The Village hidden by the Mind, Nentuoinai no Sato
by leonardo1123581321
Summary: Naruto begins to act strange, so Kakashi asigns both Sasuke and Sakura to find out why. The situation only worsens when the entire village forgets his existance and a biju appears outside Konoha. Current: Revelations and Reparations Arc.
1. Chapter 1 Arc 1: Introduction

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto anime or manga, but the Nentuoinai no Sato is my idea and belongs to none else. Unless someone else came up with the idea of the village.

**The Village Hidden by the Mind**

**(Nentuoinai No Sato)**

I want to gather up the clouds that shed tears,  
I will use the peaks of the waves to run far away.  
Even though I'm getting scared and distanced,  
I continue towards our painted future.  
Time is rushing the both of us,  
Making our actions speed up.  
Even if we are awakened while we dream,  
We were searching for the same light.  
Underneath the glittering starry night,  
With the countless constellations and shadows…  
Before all that what are you…  
What are you gazing at?  
What are you gazing at?

Chapter 1

The night was cold in Konohagakure no Sato. A pale moon lit up the night, as many had already gone to their beds to rest. There were those however who used the shadows of the night to do their work.

The three ninja sat outside the house, watching the occupant within closely. He had been tossing in his sleep for several hours. After watching him squirm for several minutes, a black mist appeared out of his ear and entered the body of the smallest ninja, who lay unconscious.

"That was a great show," the largest called. The smallest rubbed his eyes and glanced upwards, "What'd you do to the brat?"

"Thanks Higama. There weren't a lot of happy memories to screw around with. Actually, I feel kinda bad for him."

"Aaw, our Little Rekiru has grown a heart," Higama said.

"Shut up Higama, but there were still happy memories," Rekiru said.

"Do tell."

"Well, so far his memories aren't too good. Hell, I went through eight years of his life before I found a happy one. That one went down the drain."

"Go on."

"He was talking to some girl, and he seemed a little happy, so I rewrote it and now all he'll remember are insults."

"Good, anything else?"

"Yeah, I screwed up several other memories; one of which involved him accidentally bumping into one of the teachers."

"And?"

"Hey you guys," the third said. She was the only girl in the group but commanded them with a fierce air, "Can we go now. We don't want to get caught."

The other two nodded in agreement and the three were off. As they jumped from rooftop to rooftop, Higama looked over to the girl who was deep in thought.

"What's bugging you Anra?" he asked. She looked up at him.

"Why does Omoikage seem so interested in this kid?" she asked.

"Who knows and who cares," Rekiru said as they left the village and ran deep into the woods.

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The day was warm and bright, aside from several clouds settling in the sky. Sakura made her way to the bridge where Kakashi sensei had asked his students to meet him. When she arrived at the bridge she saw Naruto there, unusually early. He sat under one of the posts to the side, and had his face buried in his hands.

"Hey Naruto," she said a little cheerfully. Naruto looked up; the silliness and happiness were gone from his eyes. In its wake, his eyes were hurt.

"Hi Sakura," he said forcing a weak smile. Immediately afterward he buried his face in his hands again. After several hours passed Kakashi appeared happy and late as ever.

"Hello students. I'm sorry for being late but the path of life told me to take a little detour," he said. Then he waited for the casual responses from Naruto and Sakura, but instead only heard, "You're late!"

He glanced down to see Sakura with her usual enraged face, while Naruto was huddled by the side, looking away. Kakashi glanced around for Sasuke, but failed to see him.

"I may be, but Sasuke is later than I," he smiled. Sakura lowered her fist and looked around. After several more hours, Sasuke arrived in a somewhat bitter mood.

"Sorry I'm late, but whatever excuse Kakashi Sensei used, I'm using," He glanced at Naruto, who caught his eye and moved a few inches away.

"And what's your problem you loser?" he asked. Naruto lowered his head and answered, "Nothing."

Sasuke shrugged, and turned to face Kakashi.

"Well students, today we'll be helping the village prepare for the upcoming festival," Sakura smiled at these words. She had been planning on asking Sasuke to go with her to the festival, and hoping Naruto stayed out of the way the whole night.

"I believe several of the restaurants, i.e. the Ramen cart, needs our help moving supplies," Kakashi said, expecting Naruto to jump up to his happy old self. Instead he sat there, looking away from them.

"What's the matter Naruto? I thought you like Ramen," Kakashi said. Without raising his head Naruto replied, "Sensei, you know I don't like Ramen."

This answer caught all three of them off guard. Sakura went over to Naruto and smacked him on the face, "Don't lie! We all know you in love with Ramen!"

Naruto fell to the ground from the smack, got up and forced another smile, "No, you guys know I never did."

Sakura was becoming annoyed with Naruto's "act". She smacked him again and yelled, "Knock it off Naruto! This isn't funny!"

This time Naruto got up and said with a fake smile, "I'm not lying."

"If you two are going to fight, do it after you're dismissed," Kakashi said.

"If we're lucky they'll destroy each other," Sasuke said. Naruto frowned and quickly sat down again. Sakura frowned at Sasuke's remark and lowered her fist.

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Later that day, Kakashi dismissed the three but asked Sasuke and Sakura if he could talk to them. Once he was sure Naruto was out of earshot he faced the bewildered two.

"I'd like it if you two could keep an eye on Naruto for the next couple of days," he said.

"Why bother, that loser will probably get over his problem in no time," Sasuke said.

"He may," Kakashi answered, "But don't tell me you're not curious."

"About what?" Sakura asked. Kakashi looked off to the setting sun.

"For starter's; he was early, he's rarely ever early. He had no problem with me being late, and there was no rude remark from him. He took several insults from both you and Sasuke without so much as a comeback, he claimed to not like Ramen, and he also got hit several times and didn't complain once about anything."

"Now that you mention it," Sakura said, "He did seem a little odd."

"For most people, that is called being normal," Sasuke said as he began to leave.

"Tell you what Sasuke. This is now a mission, if you are caught, seen, or suspected, you will do D-rank missions for 5 years. If you don't do it, it will be 45 years of D-rank missions, and I want a report at the end of each day."

"That's not fair," Sakura said in his defense.

"How about I put the same thing on you," he said cheerfully.

"Actually…it can't be too bad can it Sasuke?"

"Whatever."

"Thought so, Sasuke you'll watch him for the rest of the day and you two are to switch off every day. If he goes somewhere he shouldn't, I want to know. If he meets people he shouldn't, I want to know. If he does something he shouldn't, I want to know. You're dismissed," he said as he vanished in a cloud of smoke.

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Sasuke and Sakura sat on the rooftop opposite Naruto's house. Naruto had gone to bed and was sleeping. Sasuke let out a yawn and looked over at Naruto. It was late in the night, and the moon lit up the sky.

"Why are we here?"

"No one asked you t come."

"Well, I um…wanted to help you your first day."

"We've watched him for the whole day! He hasn't done a single thing out of the ordina-" Sasuke paused and looked across the roof tops. Then he grabbed Sakura and jumped off to the rooftop of his house. He pushed Sakura down on the rooftop, and looked over the roof.

"Sasuke, what are you doing?" she asked. He put his hand over her mouth and said, "Quiet."

"Look," he said pointing over the rooftop. Where they stood seconds ago were three ninja who had appeared from thin air.

"Let's get over with this," the girl said, "And Rekiru, we're trying to get him to hate this place, not traumatize the hell out of him."

"Well excuse me for trying to do my job," the smallest said. Rekiru then made several hand signs and passed out, a thin black mist appearing above him and flying into Naruto's house.

"We need to get a better view," Sasuke said. He grabbed Sakura's hand and led her around to the side of the house. Once on the edge of the roof, he jumped to another roof top, and from there squatted down. Sakura followed his lead, and turned to face the open window. Through there was a squirming Naruto, who tossed and turned repetitively.

"What are they doing?" she asked Sasuke. Sasuke had his eye on the other two, sizing them up.

"I don't know, but we should tell Kakashi Sensei," he answered, "You go find him. I'll keep an eye on these three."

With that, Sakura ran off trying to keep as silent as possible. She barely got a few feet away before a large male ninja appeared before her. The ninja sized her up and laughed.

"Well I guess I was right," he said to himself, "How much did you see?"

Sakura stood there frozen in fear. The ninja's face was hidden behind a fox mask, and a huge sword was tied behind him.

"Well whatever," he said, "You won't live to tell anyone!"

He lunged at Sakura, several kunai drawn and full of the intent to kill.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto anime or manga, but the Nentuoinai no Sato is my idea and belongs to none else.

**The Village Hidden by the Mind**

**(Nentuoinai No Sato)**

Time has been standing still for me  
But a new journey is about to begin  
Through the changing seasons and journeys we've lived through  
We've reclaimed strength that we lost  
We abandoned our thoughts in this dizzying age  
And have completely forgotten everything  
If I could have met you when everything was falling apart  
I wouldn't have been all alone  
So I take my love and affection, face the sky  
And bury my tears in my heart  
We'll be able to meet up again in the darkness  
Deep in the depths of our pain

Chapter 2

Sakura stood there frozen in fear. The ninja's face was hidden behind a fox mask, and a huge sword was tied behind him.

"Well whatever," he said, "You won't live to tell anyone!"

He lunged at Sakura, several kunai drawn and full of the intent to kill. Sakura reached for a kunai she had in the pouch strapped to her leg and, by some amount of luck, the charging ninja tripped and fell to the ground. She raised an eyebrow before taking this to her advantage. She raced to the ninja as he picked himself up and thrust the kunai deep into his body. She reached for another and thrust into his back, and soon his back was covered in nothing more than kunai.

The man collapsed and fell to the dirt. Sakura raised an eyebrow and said, "For ninja, they're worse than Naruto."

She collected herself, before the ninja reached for the kunai in his back and pulled several out. Afterwards, he stood up, blood dripping from his wounds, and laughed coldly, "Is that all you can do? The boy put up a better fight."

"You mean Naru-?" Sakura whimpered. The ninja let out a laugh and reached for a pouch he had slung on his back. Out of the pouch he pulled a small ball covered in dark fuzz, a red liquid dropping from it. He rolled the ball down towards her and it stopped inches from her feet. Sakura let out a gasp of horror. Before her was the head of Sasuke, blood dripping from his mouth and open neck. His forehead protector was scratched and his eyes were dark. She let out a whimper before collapsing to the ground and passing out.

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Sitting on the roof watching the pink-hairedgirl as she passed out on the ground was Higama. He held a hand sign in front of him and chuckled to himself.

"I might have overdone it," he said. He heard a sound and turned his head to face Anra, an unconscious boy slung over her shoulder. Higama smiled and asked, "Well, I see the captain took the Uchiha down without much trouble."

"What'd you do to her?" she asked turning to the girl unconscious on the ground below, "Osore genkaku nojutsu?" **(Vision of Fear)**

"More or less," Higama laughed, "Turns out she liked the Uchiha. Spends most of her time worshipping the boy."

"Figures, girls like her are unfit to be ninja" Anra said. She placed the boy on the rooftop in a sitting position and motioned to Higama to bring the girl up to the roof. With total obedience Higama carried the girl up to the roof, and the two laid the boy and girl back to back in a sitting position. He lowered their heads to a lulled position, giving the appearance they had fallen asleep.

"So spill," Higama said breaking the silence, "What'd you use?"

"Itamiheki nojutsu **(False Pain)**," Anra said, "I guess we have to wait for Rekiru to finish with the other brat before he gets to work on these two."

"Why don't I…" Higama started. He stopped at Anra's glare. She turned to him and said, "Not this time. Last time you tried the kinenwiapunentou nojutsu **(Memory Mind Wipe)**; you made the guy forget so much he sat there and drooled like a baby. Don't forget what Omoikage said!"

"I say we just slit their damn throats right now!" Higama said pulling a kunai from his pouch and placing under the girl's neck.

"No," Anra ordered, "Omoikage ordered no unnecessary deaths. As far as that goes, if these two die the village will notice something."

"Alright, get off my back Anra," he put the kunai back in his pouch and muttered under his breath.

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Sasuke stirred, looking around him and towards the blinding sunlight. The sky overhead was bright blue, and cloudless. Somewhere, birds were chirping. From the sun's position he guessed it was sometime past 10. His body ached as he felt a weight on his chest. He looked down to see Sakura curled on her side, herhead on his chest, his arm slung around her shoulder. He winced at the girl and raised her head off his chest. He slid out from under her and said to himself, "Damn it, I fell asleep."

He looked down to Naruto's house to find the window wide open, but Naruto gone. The room was a mess; several marks on the wall, clothes thrown everywhere, and several pieces of furniture destroyed. Quietly, he ponderedbeating Sakura, but decided against it.He tightened his fist and heard a yawn behind him, Sakura got up on her feet. She rubbed her eyes and lazily said, "Hi Sasuke, I guess we fell asleep huh?"

Sasuke shook his head and said to Sakura, "Whatever, it's your turn to watch Naruto, also if you're going to pretend to be asleep at least try to make it look convincing."

With that he left Sakura on the rooftop, muttering the words annoying under his breath. Sakura smiled to herself, waking up before Sasuke to find herself in his arm, her head on his chest. One of her many fantasies involving Sasuke came true, but she decided that Kakashi Sensei's _mission_ were more important than her fantasies. She jumped from the rooftop and began to search for Naruto, starting at the Ramen shop. On the way, she kept remembering how she woke up that morning, and enjoyed it even it lasted all of five minutes. Halfway there, she remembered the words Naruto said the day before and decided to look elsewhere.

She came to a stall, where she saw Naruto sitting on a stool and drinking a strange liquid. He sported new clothes similar to his old ones; the orange was replaced by black and the blue with red. His forehead protector was slung around his neck. With him was the grandson of the Hokage, Konohamaru, who was with two others; one a smiling, cheerygirl and the other a boy wearing glasses,with a constantly running nose. She took a step back and watched as the child ran on about missions and ninjas and training. At some point Naruto punched Konohamaru in the face sending flying back several feet.

Konohamaru's two friends rushed to his side while the boy cried out, "That hurt! Why'd you hit me boss?"

Naruto stood up and glared at him. He reached into his pocket and placed several coins on the counter of the restaurant. Afterwards he turned and walked away.

"Hey boss, are you even going to talk to me?" Konohamaru cried out. Naruto stopped for a few seconds before walking away. Sakura winced and said, "He hits a little kid, and not just any kid, the hokage's grandson, why am I not surprised? It looks like he's back to normal."

Once Naruto was a distance away, she ran over to Konohamaru and his two friends.

"Konohamaru, right?"

"Yeah, who're…wait aren't you the boss' girlfriend?"

Sakura's eye twitched as she whacked him over the head. Konohamaru rubbed his head and said, "Hey, what was that for?"

"I am not his girlfriend!" she said, raising her fist to him. Inside she wanted to rip the boy apart, but couldn't because she knew he was the Hokage's grandson. Konohamaru sat up and said, "Are you sure? He used to talk about you a lot!"

"I am not!" she roared, hitting him again.

"Ow!" Konohamaru cried, "Okay, my head!"

Konohamaru rubbed his head again and asked, "By the way, you're on his team right? What's up with him? He's acting all weird and when did he get those new clothes?"

"I was hoping you could tell me that," she said, "Do you know where he's going?"

Konohamaru shrugged and told Sakura she should just follow Naruto around. She followed after him, the threat of failing still echoing in the back of her mind, trying to be as quiet as possible before she turned a corner and bumped right into him. There was a spark in Naruto's eyes, but it wasn't the old spark, it was something else. He grabbed her arm and glared at her.

"Stop following me," he said to her before letting her go and leaving in the opposite direction. Sakura froze in her tracks, unsure what to do before she heard, "Stalking him Sakura? I always figured you liked him."

She turned to face a blonde haired girl in purple clothes, Yamanaka Ino.

"Can it Ino!" she said, "You're just jealous because Sasuke's on my team."

"Oh yeah, well I'm not the one stalking him. At least I keep my eyes on the prize."

"This coming from the pig!"

"At least I don't have a billboard for a forehead!"

"Ino!" the two glared at each other for several minutes, before it turned into a staring contest. The two stood there, several bystanders coming and going to watch the "contest", while both of the girls made no break in eye contact.

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"Following me," Naruto said, "Who does she think he is?"

He walked down the streets muttering quietly turning to look behing him every few steps. Each time he muttered an obscenity before facing forwards again. He turned a corner to go to the training grounds before tripping. He fell to the ground with a thud, and felt someone grab his arm. That person pulled him up and quickly said, "Sorry about that."

"Whatever," Naruto said. He turned to face the man, who had brown hair, black eyes and wore blue vestments. On his head was a head band, with the markings of a twist in a circle. He looked at the head band before saying, "That's an interesting symbol."

"You think so?"

"Whatever," Naruto said. He then dusted himself off and turned away from the man, making his way to the training grounds. Once there, he walked into a small clearing. The sun was hot, and the sky was cloudless. Naruto made several handsigns and produced a shadow clone of himself, which he began to attack. The two fought each other, even though it was himself, which he considered his training.

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In a tree branch that overlooked the clearing, sat three ninja who spied on the boy. The two boys watched him, as he fought with his shadow clone, which was inevitably taijutsu.

"Okay, he knows taijutsu. Show us something we don't already know!" Anra exclaimed, "I wonder why Lord Omoikage is so interested in him anyway? We've been here for three weeks and that's the only technique we've seen him use."

"Who knows?" Rekiru said.

"What about that Uchiha? I mean he's a better shinobi than this kid."

"No, Omoikage was specific about who he wanted."

"So Higama, are you ready to give him the offer?" Anra asked curiously.

"I am always ready," he said. He made several hand signs, and his eyes went blank. The three, however, were completely unaware of the girl from the previous night watching them.

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Sakura watched the three closely, still cheering herself for beating Ino at the staring contest. Kakashi Sensei congratulated her on her "victory" against her rival, and asked why she wasn't keeping an eye on Naruto like he told her, whom Sakura had forgotten about. She immediately ran in the direction Naruto went before seeing three masked ninja talking in alleyway. She slowly remembered what they said.

"_Are we ready to start Part II, Rekiru?" the girl said._

"_Yes mam, the kid's entire life has been rewritten," the smallest said._

"_Good, Higama how are you going to present the offer to the boy?" the girl asked._

"_With this," the largest made several hand signs, followed by the two suddenly nodding and muttering several things._

"_Alright, that brat will buy it. But change his outfit, he looks way to suspicious," the girl said again. Higama made several more hand signs and the two nodded in agreement._

"_Alright, looks good," Anra said. She made several hand signs and her eyes became pitch white. After several minutes they returned to normal, "Alright, he's heading to the training grounds. We've been working on this mission for three weeks; let's try not to screw up now."_

She followed them into an alleyway, where she watched the one called Higama make hand signs. Naruto crossed into the alley, tripped on something, and began talking to an unseen being. She sized them up and got an odd sense that they were familiar as if she had seen them before. She didn't want to have to fight them and decided to sit back and watch what they did. The largest made several hand signs, and Naruto suddenly stopping fighting his shadow clone.

"What are they doing to him?" she asked herself as Naruto began to talk to nobody.

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Naruto faced the stranger, the man from before. The man smiled warmly, something Naruto had never seen anyone do before, and talked calmly towards him.

"So what do you think?" he asked brightly.

**Author's Note**: Above Lyrics taken from Naruto Opening for Season 8, Lyrics for Chapter 1 taken from Opening Theme of Season 7. Also, Patience is a Virtue, or that's what I would say if I had patience.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto anime or manga, but the Nentuoinai no Sato, and any characters from said village, is my idea and belongs to none else.

**The Village Hidden by the Mind**

**(Nentuoinai No Sato)**

Young man, heed my words  
Humans aren't all that great  
We've got no use for tomorrow anymore  
Don't hide your clenched fist.  
Don't throw away your fears out of anxiousness,  
Not quite yet.  
You probably won't remember this, though.  
Young man, the only one who can pull the trigger  
To replenish the heart is you.  
All the young people said,  
"This is pointless, it can't be helped.  
In this wonderful world,  
We're just living our lives."  
All the young people said,  
"No matter what,  
We'll never forget the strife we've been through."  
All the young people said,  
"We're too young to die.  
The shimmering skies are lined up for us,  
In our town right now."  
All the young people said,  
"On this windless night,  
If we can just try to make a difference…"

Chapter 3

Naruto faced the stranger, the man from before. The man smiled warmly, something Naruto had never seen anyone do before, and talked calmly towards him.

"So what do you think?" he asked brightly. Naruto gave him a confused look, and raised an eyebrow. He wanted to trust this man, but something about him told Naruto he couldn't trust him.

"What makes you think I'll say yes?" he asked the man.

"Tell me why you wouldn't."

"Let me think, maybe because this is my home," Naruto said angrily. The man forced down a laugh and said calmly, "But as I once heard you say, you could never call this place a home."

"When did you…" Naruto took a step back. He made several hand signs and several more copies of him appeared. Each took a fighting stance and drew a kunai from the pouch around his leg, "Who are you?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that," he said, smiling warmly.

"Then how can I trust you?"

"That s a good question, how can you. It seems you're not interested so I'll take my business elsewhere."

"Wait!" Naruto said, "What if I was interested?'

"Since you have your doubts," the man said calmly again, "I'll give you some time to think it over. The night of the festival, here, that's tomorrow night. Think about it."

He turned around and left the training ground, leaving Naruto to think about his offer. He sat down and undid the shadow clones, still pondering what the man's offer.

"Who were you talking to you loser?" came a voice. Naruto turned to face Sasuke standing behind him. He had an annoyed and bored look on his face. Naruto glared at him and said, "How long were you there?"

"About a minute," he said. He looked around the field as if searching for something before turning to Naruto and saying, "So who were you talking to?"

"Yeah right, you didn't see him."

"See who, the thin patch of air you were talking to? Or maybe you invented an imaginary friend."

Naruto got up and pushed past Sasuke, muttering the word jerk under his breath. Sasuke muttered a word back at him, but Naruto ignored him and left.

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The sun was setting in the horizon. The town had become worked up about the upcoming festival, but the mood quickly died where ever Naruto went. He tried to ignore their whispers but he always heard the same words, the words that echoed in his mind since he was a child. He walked past them, then remembering the man's offer.

"_You want them to suffer don't you. To make them pay. I can help you; I can teach you things that could destroy their minds. Especially the one you hate the most."_

He considered the man's words, and for a moment he almost thought about leaving Konohagakure no Sato. He tried to give himself a reason to stay, but he couldn't. When he thought back, all he could remember were painful memories.

"Um…Naruto," he heard a feminine voice say to him. He looked up to face a dark haired girl, Hyuga Hinata. She smilednervously, and had the same the nervous look in her eyes that she always had.

"Hello Hinata," he said back at her, trying not to sound bitter. Her cheeks turned red at the sound of her name. She looked away and began to twiddle her fore fingers. Naruto had never fully trusted her, but he had little reason to not to.

"I was…um…wondering if…maybe," she started. Her gaze slowly returned to him, and she said, "You…wanted to…well."

She gulped, and her cheeks became a darker shade of red. Naruto gave her a bewildered look, but it was the curiosity that kept him from leaving. She began to shake a little and gulped again, "Go with...well."

"Hey, Hinata!" someone called. She turned around to see three people come her way; one a female adult, the others two boys. One of the boys wore a furry coat with its hood over his head, a dog riding inside the jacket, and the other wore a coat with a collar that hid his neck and wore shades over his eyes. The woman had dark hair and red eyes. She wore a sleeveless dress,and her arms were bandaged.

"You're late. What were doing all this time?" the female asked. Hinata's blush faded, and she answered, "I'm sorry Kurenai sensei."

"I'll let it slide this time," she said, "Next time, you won't get off so easy."

Hinata nodded, and she was led off by the three. Naruto wondered about what she was going to ask, before continuing back to his house. By the time he arrived at his house he had come up with several possibilities, each one crazier than the last. On his way back to his house he passed the Ramen Ichiraku shop. As he passed the shop he felt fear slowly consume him.

_Five years earlier.Naruto bumped into a man coming out of the Ramen shop carrying a large tub full of soup. The man dropped the vat and its steaming contents onto the ground, while he fell the backwards. The man let out a wail at Naruto, "You idiot! My new recipe!"_

_He turned on Naruto who was on the ground in a panic. He slolwly backed away from the advancing man wh ograbbed his arm and led him into the Ramen shop.Immediately afterwards he chased off the customers and closed the door down. When he was done he turned on the cowering Naruto and said, "I spent weeks on that recipe! Now!..."_

Naruto stepped away from the Ramen shop and ran to his house. Once inside he locked it behind him and fell on his bed without changing his clothes, trying as hard as he could to not remember what happened several years earlier.

"Maybe I should tell Hoka…no. Like he would care," Naruto said to himself. He looked at the calendar and eyed the date: October 9. He sighed again before closing his eyes.

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The night was cold and cloudy. Many people believed that it would rain the day of the festival, though to some it didn't matter. Kakashi sat on his couch, reading the 3rd chapter of Icha Icha Paradaisu. He read and took in each word, enjoying each moment of it, before hearing a knock at his door. He sighed and placed the book down, rising from his couch as lazily as possible. He opened the door to find Sakura and Sasuke standing there; Sakura excited to be in Sasuke's presence and Sasuke as annoyed as usual.

"Well hello students, to what do I owe this late pleasure?" he asked them. Sakura's eye twitched and Sasuke sighed. There were a few moments of silence before Sasuke said, "Do you want the reports or not?"

Kakashi picked his ear with his pinky finger, and seemed to be lost in thought. After a few more minutes of silence, Kakashi seemed to remember and invited them in. He guided them to the couch where they took a seat, and poured both a cup of tea.

"So, what do you have to report," Kakashi asked, the tone of his voice suggested boredom. Sakura took a sip of her tea, while Sasuke pushed his tea aside. He cleared his throat and began, "He did nothing to report on yesterday."

"And today?"

"He decided to make himself an imaginary friend and decided it was a good time to change his clothes."

"His clothes?"

"And an imaginary friend, probably to compensate for the one's he doesn't have."

"I think you're being a little hard on Naruto," Sakura said to him. Sasuke folded his arms, "Whatever, the loser's probably gotten over whatever was bugging him yesterday."

"Okay Sasuke, I guess you avoid several years of D rank missions," Kakashi answered with a happy tone. Sasuke nodded dully, and sat back. Kakashi turned to face Sakura and asked, "Okay, what do you have to report Sakura?"

"Well," she started, "There were three ninja. I saw them following Naruto the whole day."

"The whole day?" Kakashi asked, an accusing look was in his eye.

"Okay so it was after I beat Ino at that staring contest," she said. Sasuke sighed and muttered something under his breath.

"Did you see the mark on their headband?" Kakashi asked her. She nodded and made a swirling motion with her finger, "It looked like a swirl inside a circle, kind of like that mark on the back of Naruto's shirt. Only the band was black instead of blue."

"Hmm, a swirl," he began to wander off in thought again. He had seen that type of mark once before, and heard rumors about these type of ninja. The idea that they would be in Konohagakure was silly, seeing that if they were here, their only target would be someone worth his weight. Naruto had proven himself time and again, but even then he wasn't a truly powerful ninja, not yet anyway.

"Kakashi sensei?" Sakura asked. Kakashi broke from his trance and looked at the two of them, who had been staring at him. He nodded quietly and said, "Anything else?"

"Well," she thought back to when Naruto hit the Hokage's grandson. Her eye twitched and said, "No."

Kakashi sighed, "Alright, take tomorrow off."

"You don't want us to keep an eye on Naruto?"

"No," Kakashi said, "I don't make my students work on holidays. Besides Sakura, I believe you wanted to ask Sasuke something."

Sakura blushed and nodded. He led the two out the door and watched as they disappeared bound for their house. Afterwards he sat back down on his couch and picked up the book he was reading earlier, pushing the idea that the ninja Sakura described out of his mind. He decided that they were merely dressing themselves as ninja from that village. He looked out the window and wondered to himself, if those ninja were here.

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Miles from Konohagakure a man stepped through the forest. He had dark colored hair, and wore a black cloak; red spots in the shape of flames and clouds scattered throughout the cloth, and had a collar that hid his neck completely. He wore a scratched forehead protector that bore the mark of Konohagakure no Sato. His eyes were red and strange marks made themselves visible along it. With him was a taller, blue skinned man, with small eyes and wearing the same clothes. The exception being that his forehead protector bore the mark of Kirigakure. Slung on this man's back was a giant sword.

Both wore rice hats, paper slips on the edges to hide most of their face. A bell jingled wit each step the first man took. Both wore rings on different fingers. The ring on the first read: Crimson; the ring on the second read: South. Both were on orders to retrieve the same person, and had no intention of failing to do so.

**Author's Note**: Above Lyrics taken from Naruto Opening for Season 6. Also any typos, grammatical errors, or any such phenomenon are the fault of the ninja of the Nentuoinai no Sato, blame them not me.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto anime or manga, but the Nentuoinai no Sato and any characters from said village, is my idea and belongs to none else.

**Pre-Author's Note**: Below Lyrics taken from Naruto Opening for Season 5. Again any typos, grammatical errors, or any such phenomenon are the fault of the ninja of the Nentuoinai no Sato. Can anyone guess what the festival is celebrating?

**The Village Hidden by the Mind**

**(Nentuoinai No Sato)**

I put together the words that were dried up  
And all I wanted to do was  
Convey my simple feelings, that somber and…  
Was blowing on that day  
I threw it into the ruins of yesterday  
And now, smiling, I can live with you! Yeah!  
But this affair  
Will crucify you  
So that's why we have to say goodbye  
And it is now; we will try to know each other  
Until nothing remains  
And someday we will  
Realize that's that all there is too it. The sadness…  
Will slow down our cheeks and become a river of tears  
That quivering feeling will become a strong whirl  
And fuse together  
Baby

Chapter 4

Hokage Sarutobi sat in his room smoking his pipe. He reviewed the paperwork he had received and reread it several times. Each time, he grew more fearful of what may occur. He heard a knock and invited the person in.

"Kakashi, I'm sorry to trouble you today of all days," Sarutobi said, "Have a seat; there's something we need to talk about."

Kakashi took a seat in front of the Hokage's desk. Sarutobi offered Kakashi a pipe but he quickly refused it. Sarutobi placed his spare away and leafed through the paper work he was reviewing.

"Kakashi, you recall the Akatsuki correct?" he asked. Kakashi nodded, "Yes, a group of the most lethal S-rank criminals?"

"Yes," Sarutobi handed Kakashi the paper work. Kakashi accepted it and took a glance at the photo; a boy with red hair, bags under his eyes, and a gourd on his back. On his forehead was a tattoo that read: Love. Kakashi then flipped through the papers.

"Gaara…son of the Kazekage…Jinchuriki of the Ichibi no Shukaku," he said as he skimmed the paperwork, "A jinchuriki…like Naruto, right?"

"Yes," the Hokage placed more tobacco in his pipe, "Our shinobi in the field say he's gone missing from Sunagakure no Sato **(Village hidden in the Sand)**. The village hated the child so much, that they're making no effort to retrieve him. It's not just him, but several other jinchuriki from Kirigakure **(Hidden Mist)**, Kumogakure **(Hidden Cloud)**, and Iwagakure **(Hidden Rock)**."

"There are that many jinchuriki?" Kakashi asked. Sarutobi nodded ad began to leaf through more paperwork. He found the paper he was looking for and handed it to Kakashi, "Each village tried to capture their own biju **(Tailed Beast)** during the third ninja war. Many became jinchuriki, and now four are missing."

"And Naruto may be next," Kakashi finished. Sarutobi nodded and continued, "Akatsuki agents were sighted at all four villages before the jinchuriki disappeared. One of the agents you may recognize."

Sarutobi handed Kakashi another document. The picture was taken from an aerial perspective. The person in the photo had dark hair and red eyes; a sharingan. Kakashi looked at the photo again, "Uchiha Itachi."

"Yes, that photo was taken yesterday. The ANBU squad said they were heading towards Konoha."

"So, you think my team should keep an eye on Naruto?" Kakashi said. Sarutobi nodded again, "Not them, you and Gai. One jonin and two genin will stand no chance against two S-rank criminals. Besides, Sasuke may become reckless if he sees his brother."

Kakashi sat back and remembered that night several years earlier. An entire clan killed in one night by one man. Only one child survived. Then he remembered Naruto and what Sakura said last night.

"Nentuoinai no Sato," he said to himself. He looked to the Hokage who began leafing through paperwork.

"Hokage-sama, there's something you might want to know," he said.

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The day's festival had gone into full swing. The village had filled with cheers and laughter. Sakura and Sasuke passed through the market place, Sakura still cheering inside that Sasuke said he would spend the day with her. Sasuke, on the other hand, had simply said yes to prevent the other several hundred something girls who arrived at his house to ask the same thing. A small stage had been set up in the center of the market; several children were on the stage playing out a scene.

One child wore a fox mask and had nine ropes tied to the back of his waist giving the appearance of nine tails. Another wore the traditional clothes of the hokage, and had an orange toad with a dagger tied to its waist under his arm. The rest of the children were dressed as traditional Konoha ninja. A small crowd had assembled to watch the little play that the kids put on. To the side of the stage sat a man with brown hair and a scratch across his nose. He wore the chunin vest and was chatting with a dark haired girl wearing a tan hood. Sakura and Sasuke approached Hinata and their old sensei, who had just mouth the words; _hold ground until the hokage arrives; _to one of the children.

"Hello Iruka-sensei," Sakura said first, catching him off guard. He smile at them and answered, "Hello guys, haven't seen you in a while. Kakashi being the late nuisance he always is?"

"Yeah," Sakura said. Sasuke watched the play as it unfolded. The child wearing the fox mask had knocked down several of the kids playing the ninja. The one dressed as the hokage stepped forward and tossed the toad down in front of him.

"Gamabunta," he said in a professional voice, "help me fight the Kyubi no Yoko."

On command the toad hopped onto the kid playing the kyubi. The girl let out a scream and passed out. Iruka shook his head and tried to wake the kid up. After several failed attempts, he sighed and said, "Sorry folks, looks like one of the kids passed out."

The crowd slowly dispersed, and several of the academy students rushed to the aide of the passed out kid. Sakura and Sasuke had already begun to talk with Hinata, "So you don't know where he is?"

"Sorry Hinata, not since yesterday," Sakura answered her. Inside she was screaming, _Damn! If he even shows his face and ruins my day with Sasuke I'm going to kill him over and over again! _Sasuke shook his head and Hinata hung hers.

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The sun was setting in Konohagakure no Sato. The mood, however, had not died. Many adults had become so drunk that it became easy to ignore the blonde haired boy who passed. Others grew quiet and glared at him when he passed.

Naruto had made up his mind. He slung the bag on his back and made his way to the training grounds. He was still uncertain if he should do what he was going to, but the man's words echoed in his mind. The training grounds were dark and quiet when he arrived. Being early he expected to wait until nightfall for the man to return. When he arrived he found three men in rice hats and dressed in white robes. The largest he recognized as the man from before, except for the giant sword slung around his back.

Naruto approached him first and eyed the other two. One was small in height, smaller than him, had white hair and glasses. The other was a slightly taller woman with purple hair and pale eyes. All three had a mask that they had slung around their neck.

"You're earlier than the agreed time," Higama started.

"Well," Naruto began to explain before the man shook his head, "Don't worry about that. This will make leaving a hell of a lot easier."

Naruto nodded at the man as the three of them replaced their masks upon their face. The man extended his hand and said, "Name's Higama. And these are Rekiru and Anra, my squad members."

Naruto shook hands with each of them. Anra took the lead and headed for the entrance into the training grounds. But the three were stopped by two looming figures in black cloaks. Both of them wore rice hats with paper slips hanging along the edges. The larger of the two also had a sword.

Rekiru, Anra, and Higama each drew a weapon from their pouch and raised it towards the two strangers. The two new comers drew their own weapons. The first drew a kunai, the second drew his sword. Naruto looked at the shorter one, who seemed oddly familiar to him. He had the same red eyes he had seen before, on Sasuke. This man began to undo the buttons on his coat so that his full face became visible.

"Naruto…come with us…you can't trust them," the shorter one said. Naruto glanced at him and saw the sharingan in his eyes. The sharingan user hung his arm outside of his coat and eyed all three robed shinobi, then eyed Naruto. Naruto froze at his gaze.

"No," Naruto answered at him. The man shook his head and removed his hat. A bell shook as his he removed the hat. Naruto chanced a glance at Rekiru who had already begun to make hand signs. The man had two scratches beneath his eyes, and had the same look as on Sasuke's face. Higama had stepped between Naruto and the new comer.

"I'm afraid there is no choice for you in this matter," the man said. He threw his kunai at Higama.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto anime or manga, but the Nentuoinai no Sato and any characters from said village, is my idea and belongs to none else.

**Pre-Author's Note**: Below Lyrics taken from Naruto Opening for Season 4. Seems appropriate for the fight. Once again any typos, grammatical errors, or any such phenomenon are the fault of the ninja of the Nentuoinai no Sato. As a reminder, Naruto is OOC.

**In reply to InuNightWalker**- Sorry, had to chop a lot off the previous chapter, or else this chapter wouldn't exist.

**The Village Hidden by the Mind**

**(Nentuoinai No Sato)**

We are Fighting Dreamers, heading for the top  
Fighting Dreamers, without a care for our appearance  
Fighting Dreamers, fighting for what we believe in  
Oli! Oli! Oli! O!  
Just go my way  
Right here, right now! Bang!  
Let it out like a straight liner  
Right here, right now! Burn!  
Inside the endless road with endless strifes  
Where are you heading to, spreading open another's map?  
A colorful crow came along, stole that map, and tore it up  
Now open up the eye in the heart and take a good look at the present  
YEAH!  
There's nothing to lose, so let's go!  
We are fighting Dreamers, heading for the top  
Fighting Dreamers, without a care for our appearance  
Fighting Dreamers, fighting for what we believe in  
Oli! Oli! Oli! O!  
Just go my way  
Right here, right now! Bang!  
Let it out like a straight liner  
Right here, right now! Burn!  
We'll slash on and get the fire  
Right here, right now! Bang!  
Let it out like a straight liner  
Right here, right now! Burn!  
We'll slash on and get the fire  
Bang!

Chapter 5

"I'm afraid there is no choice for you in this matter," the man said. He threw his kunai at Higama. Higama used his own kunai to block the one the man threw. It fell to the ground with a clang and the sharingan user turned his attention to Rekiru. The short man had made one last hand sign; the horse. There was a puff of smoke, but nothing special happened as Rekiru stood there. Naruto turned his attention to the larger shark-like man. He had his sword ready and eyed Higama, who drew his own sword. The man took the first step, but was interrupted by the sharingan user, "Kisame, we're not here to have fun. We're here to-"

He was cut short, and flew forward several feet. He landed face forward in front of Naruto. The man's hands were behind his back held there by Rekiru who snuck behind him.

"For Akatsuki, you're not so tough," Rekiru said cockily. In the next second Rekiru and the man had switched positions, the difference being Rekiru was out cold and the man had his foot over his head. The man glared at him and started, "That won't work on me."

The man got up and approached Naruto, who had taken a step back. He looked past the sharingan user to see Higama and Anra both holding ground against the man named Kisame, who seemed to be placing little effort in defeating the two of them. Naruto replaced attention on the sharingan user, who cornered him to a tree.

"Now, if you would come with us," he said again. Naruto ran past him, with little effect as the sharingan user reappeared in front of Naruto. The sharingan user shook his head, "I wasn't asking you to come with us, I was telling you."

Thinking quickly, he made a hand sign and made several kage bunshin. Each of these copies ran off in a different direction. The sharingan user sighed and made several hand signs. The jutsu terminated the clones and caused Naruto to fall to the ground. Naruto cringed in pain on the ground, still trying to get away from the advancing man, but was unable to move his body.

"You will come with us, conscious or unconscious," he said. Naruto looked past him to see how Higama and Anra were doing against Kisame. To his surprise, Higama had his hands in an odd hand sign formation while Kisame was swinging his sword around at an invisible opponent. Anra, on the other hand, had her attention focused on a kage bunshin of the sharingan user.

The sharingan user shook his head as Kisame sliced the air with his sword. The man's eyes shifted back to Naruto, "I'll deal with you in a moment."

He turned his back on Naruto and headed off to face Anra, who had just beaten the kage bunshin. On the other end of the field, Kisame had broken free of whatever trance he was in and had Higama locked in a sword fight. Several trees went down each time one of them swung his sword. Higama took each opening he had to throw several kunai and shuriken at Kisame. Kisame, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying his little duel.

Naruto shifted his gaze back on Anra, who was gathering a large sum of chakra into her fist. The sharingan user watched as she used built up more chakra. _Should I stop her?_ Then in a mad rush, she charged at Itachi.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Kakashi stepped out of Naruto's apartment accompanied by a man with bowl hair cut. In his hands was the book Icha Icha Paradaisu. He turned a page as his friend closed the door, "Kakashi, how do you expect to find your student if your eye is on that book all the time?"

"Gai, I have two eyes you know," he said back at him.

"Yes, but one is on that book, the other is behind that headband of yours."

"Your point?"

"Are you even going to look for your student?" Gai yelled at him.

"If he's in trouble I'm sure we'll notice any explosions, bright flashes, or loud noises that are bound to occur," Kakashi said. Inside Gai was furious; _I hate it when he doesn't take things seriously! Although it makes him look cool…Damn you Kakashi, you win this round…that makes 50 to 51…Gaaah! He took the lead! _Kakashi turned another page of his book. Gai looked up at the darkening sky; several fireworks had been shot up, even though it was far too early.

"Why don't we check the Ichiraku Ramen?" Gai asked Kakashi, "Your student practically lives off the noodles."

"Because, as I recall, he told me he hated Ramen and always has. I believe that's why we found all those ramen cups and bowls in his garbage can," Kakashi said. He again turned a page of his book. Down below three figures approached the apartment. Kakashi looked down to see Sakura, Sasuke and Hinata approaching the apartment.

"Hi Kakashi sensei! Gai Sensei!" Sakura yelled to them, "What are youtwo doing here?"

The duo jumped down to the ground below, landing in front of three genin. Kakashi turned another page of his book before putting it away, "We were looking for Naruto, have either of you three seen him?"

"No, we were helping Hinata find him," Sakura answered to him. Kakashi looked over at Hinata, who was blushing and twiddling her forefingers. Inside Sakura roared with rage; _Naruto! You still manage to ruin my day with Sasuke! You better pray I don't find you, or else!_

"Well, since we're looking for the same person," Kakashi started, "Perhaps we should look for him together."

The five were prepared to leave when they heard an explosion in the distance, which shook the earth where they were. A pillar of smoke rose from the horizon line of the trees. Kakashi sighed and faced Gai, whose mouth was wide open, "Like I said Gai…It would happen eventually."

"At the training grounds," Gai followed the rising pillar of smoke, "Hmmm…training when he should betaking a break.If that's Naruto then he must be training hard. What an inspiration! But my Lee would have run seven hundred la-"

"Not again with your stupid ideas."

"Let me finish! My Lee would have run seven hundred laps upside down carrying weights up and down Konoha to compete with this."

"Okay, guess we should find him. Although it seems some of us don't appear to be too motivated to find him," Kakashi said, taking the lead of the group. Sakura felt a shiver down her spine; _He didn't hearme just now, did he?_

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Anra had her arm extended in a fist, the sharingan user held it back with his own hand. Naruto's eyes widened; unable to believe what had just happened.The manbended his hand forward, bending Anra's in the opposite direction.He watched as she fell on her knees. Lying beneath the tree, Naruto regained his mobility and stood up. He watched as Higama was backed into a corner by Kisame. _Got to be quick,_he thought as he made the hand sign for the kage bunshin.

She let out a scream of pain and collapsed. Her hand was at an odd angle. The man stepped on her body and raised an eyebrow He pulled the forehead protector off her face and examined the black band more closely. This was no illusion, a swirl in a circle. There was a puff of smoke under his foot and the woman vanished.

"Kage Bunshin," he said, "Kisame, the boy?"

"They're all Bunshin," the shark-like man said holding up a forehead protector. Similar to Itachi's in that both were damaged. Itachi scoffed and replaced his rice hat. Kisame replaced his sword on his back and his hat on his head. Itachi wondered to himself how they had managed this without his sharingan noticing. He followed a skyward pillar of smoke that rose from where the woman had tried her attack.

"Kisame," he started tossing the forehead protector aside, "We've drawn too much attention to ourselves. We should go."

"Right," Kisame dropped the forehead protector and the two vanished. A few seconds after the two left, five people arrived at the training grounds; two men and three kids. Their eyes widened at the ruined clearing. Several pillars of smoke rose into the sky, and the field was littered with kunai and shuriken. Several trees had been knocked down, some bore scratches, some looked to be shaved, and others had been sliced into logs.

"Kakashi," Gai started, "Your student may have overdone it."

"No," Kakashi said as he examined the ruined field. The three genin had run ahead, clearing the rolled over logs and overturned earth. He looked around again and announced, "There was a fight here."

"How do you know?" Gai asked as he pulled a kunai off a tree.

"If Naruto was training, I doubt he would leave his forehead protector here," he said lifting a blue band up. The metal plate in the middle with the Konoha leaf in the center was cracked and crumbling along the edges, "And even then, he wouldn't let it get in such a condition. This thing is precious to him…then again, how he's been acting…"

Gai ran ahead and scanned the area, while Kakashi made his way over to Sasuke, "Sasuke…did you find anything?"

"No," he scoffed with boredom. Kakashi shook his head, "Sasuke, I thought that part of being a team was concern for the other teammates. You, Naruto, and Sakura are a team. Like I said; if one member of the team has a problem then the whole team does."

"Kakashi Sensei! Gai sensei!" Sakura cried. Kakashi and Sasuke rushed to where Sakura was. In her hand was a black band, with a metal plate on it. It had the exact symbol that Sakura had described.

"It's from those ninja isn't it," she asked as Kakashi examined it. He turned it over in his hands, examining in from all angles. _This can't be right. They're just a myth. A myth._

"Kakashi sensei?" Sakura said. Kakashi looked up and faced the four of them, "we have to go to Hokage-sama's place."

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Miles from Konohagakure, two people leaped through the branches. Each of these two carried a person. The one in black carried a short man in white robes. Beside him, a taller man carrying a woman in similar robes, a large sword slung on his back. The large man eyed Naruto and wondered to himself, _there's something weird about this kid. He used transformed his kage bunshin at the last minute. Maybe…there's more to this kid that we thought…_

"What was that thing…um…this guy did back there," Naruto motioned to the person slung over his shoulder. Higama broke from his train of thought, "You mean Rekiru? It's called Kagemanako no Jutsu **(Shadow of the Eyes)**."

"Genjutsu…but shouldn't that sharingan user's sharingan have seen through it?"

"I'll explain it to you later…I see you've left your forehead protector," Higama stated to the blonde headed boy. He nodded, "Yeah. Huh, she doesn't have hers on."

Higama looked back at the unconscious Anra and nodded, "Itachi took it off, remember."

"You mean the guy with the sharingan?" he asked, "And what did they want with me?"

"I'll tell you when we get back to the village," Higama said. He was not looking forward to explanations. He never was capable of remembering important details.

"By the way…what did Rekiru mean when he said Akatsuki?"

"I'll explain that too when we get to the village."

"What village is that anyway?" Naruto asked. Higama faced him with a smile, "You'll see. Right now, we have to get to the rendezvous point."

**End of the Introduction Arc**

**Post-Author's Note**: When I say end of the arc I don't mean end of the story, just the end of this part of the story.

**What to expect on the next arc of Nentuoinai no Sato-**

Romance, fighting, explosions, Akatsuki, mystery shinobi, even more explosions, and somebody (flashes image of Gaara) will (flashes image of Uzumaki Naruto) die (flashes image of Uchiha Sasuke).


	6. Chapter 6 Arc 2: Hinata's Search

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto anime or manga, but the Nentuoinai no Sato and any characters from said village, is my idea and belongs to none else.

**Pre-Author's Note**: Below Lyrics taken from Naruto Opening for Season 3…I'm running out of intro themes. Once again any typos, grammatical errors, or any such phenomenon are the fault of the ninja of the Nentuoinai no Sato. Also, somebody will die in this arc. Thanks to everyone who has read this far into the story. As a change of pace we'll be seeing the story from someone else's perspective.

**The Village Hidden by the Mind**

**(Nentuoinai No Sato)**

Turn your sadness into kindness  
And your uniqueness into strength  
Its okay to get lost in the process, begin to walk  
One More Time  
Do you like to answer to someone's expectation…  
And be praised for it?  
Even if you must sacrifice what you really want to do…  
Will your smile be true?  
I wake up after seeing only the beginning of my dream  
But I will grasp what happens after that with my arms  
Yes the important things are always…  
The ones with no form…  
Even if you obtain or lose it, you do not notice  
So turn your sadness into kindness  
And your uniqueness into strength  
Its okay to get lost in the process, begin to walk  
One More Time

**Hinata's Search Arc**

**Chapter 6**

Sarutobi sat in his office overlooking the village. A pillar of smoke rose over the trees, blocking out the moon light over a portion of the village. Several shinobi had gone there to investigate the cause of the explosion, and the old man was waiting for them to return. There was a knock on the door and the old man invited the ninja to enter, surprised to see Kakashi and Gai accompanying a purple haired female.

"Well Kakashi, Gai, I assume this is Naruto-related then?" he asked the two of them as the woman followed after them. The old man rose from his chair and started, "Anko, any news about that explosion?"

"Kakashi and Gai have a better idea than I do," she said to the old man. He rose from his chair and walked around the table. On the other side, he removed the pipe from his mouth and spoke, "This better not be this mind shinobi none-sense. I have no plans of debating this again."

"Hokage-sama, this time we have this," Kakashi said tossing a black head band towards the old man, who caught it at blinding speed. He examined it closely, and felt his heart almost stop. The symbol was one he thought he would never have to see again; a swirl in a circle. He felt Anko looking over his shoulder, "What village is this from Hokage-sama?"

"This mark," he yawned. He had only seen it once, and even then he knewas plain asday that they were a myth.There was a thud behind him, and he turned to see Gai fast asleep and Kakashi's eye drooping. He yawned and slumped to the ground with a thud. On the other side of the door there were thud noises before the old man himself passed out.

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A man in white robes sat on top of a tree over looking the scene. By now half the village was asleep and his men would already have begun memory modification. He listened to his radio carefully, making sure everything went as planned.

"This is Team 1; we've secured the market place."

"This is Team 5; we're done in the courtyard and are moving north to the academy."

"This is Team 3; we've secured the fountain."

He observed their handy work from afar. He particularly enjoyed the fact that his men were sweeping through the village like a flood through a forest. There was occasional shouting, but it never lasted.

"This is Team 9; beginning clean up."

"Man this'll take all night."

"This is Team 8; we've destroyed all records of the target's existence."

"Like shooting fish in a barrel."

The man smiled. Tomorrow the villagers would wake up and none of them would ever know that they had been in the village. Still it occured to him that the Omoikage had been the one who ordered this mass village memory wipe. _All this for some kid? This makes the fourth village this week. What's Lord Omoikage planning?_

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She was chasing a boy. The more steps she took, the more she realized she knew very little about him. She took one more step and asked herself what was his name. She stopped and watched him, feeling a strong hatred for him arise in her. The boy turned and smiled, and she felt the hatred pass. The boy had blonde hair, a smiling face and blue eyes. The boy began to fade away though, and in his place was a dark haired boy in blue clothes. He didn't have the same look as the other boy, but something told her she should like him. Then the other boy appeared next to the new one.

She opened her eyes, and found herself in her bed. It was bright outside, somewhere kids were laughing. The first though to cross her mind was of the boy. She couldn't remember anything about him, but she somehow felt she new him. She tried to remember her name, but she stopped when she felt the head ache. Her bedroom door slid open and she saw Kurenai Sensei.

"Hinata, good you're up," she closed the door and left, leaving Hinata alone to her thoughts. Hinata rose from her bed and dressed in her clothes, the boy still in her thoughts.

Later that day, Hinata was at the village's river. She sat by the cool water as it ran by. The thoughts of the boy were still in her head, and she had difficulty forgetting about the boy. She struggled to remember his name;_ Na…Na…Na…Naru._ It was as if someone was driving a spike through her head. She grabbed it between her heads and tried to make the pain go away.

"Hi Hinata!" someone said beside her. The pain went away and she looked up at the dark haired boy standing next to her. He had a small dog inside his jacket that let out a happy bark. Hinata stood up and smiled, "Hi…Kiba."

"Is something bugging you Hinata?" he asked her. He had a worried look on his face. She shook her head, "No."

"You're not fooling anyone Hinata," he answered, "What's bugging you?"

"It's…Do you remember…that boy," she started. Kiba raised an eye brow, "You mean Sasuke? Don't tell me you're starting to like him too."

"No…not him...there was someone else," she answered, "I don't know…I think he was…in Team #7."

"Team #7, there are only 2 guys on that team," he said. She thought to herself, _but I know he was in their team._ The small dog barked and Kiba said, "Are you sure you didn't imagine him?"

"I…don't know," she said to herself. She walked past Kiba who turned and asked, "Where are you going?"

"I'm…going to see Hokage-sama," she said. Kiba wore a confused look on his face. He had never seen Hinata act like this. There was a fire in her eyes he had never seen there before.

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"No."

"But…I just…" she pleaded.

"Listen, Hinata," the old man said smoking his pipe, "The village records give the information of every ninja in the village. Their names, their family members, even the codenames of those in the ANBU squad. It's just too risky to show it to you."

"But…Hokage-sama, I just wanted to…"

"No."

"But…I…please."

"I'm sorry," the old man said. Hinata left the room and wondered what she was going to do. The village records were her only way to know who the boy was. Then it occurred to her what she could do. She knew it would risk her safety, but she had to know who the boy was. She had to know. She decided her course of action and didn't give it a second thought.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto anime or manga, but the Nentuoinai no Sato and any characters from said village, is my idea and belongs to none else.

**Pre-Author's Note**: Below Lyrics taken from Naruto Opening for Season 2…It occurs to me I'm using them in reverse order. Pretty soon I'm going to need to use the English version. Once again any typos, grammatical errors, or any such phenomenon are the fault of the ninja of the Nentuoinai no Sato. They are the masters of the mind wipe…now to answer some questions; here is Naruto.  
**Naruto**- Hi guys! Any questions- (Several hands go up)-that are not SasuNaru related? (all the hands go down)…Damn you Sasuke(walks away)  
**Pre-Author's Note: **Let's give a huge round of applause to Naruto. Now it's question and answer time.

**Failing Mentality****- **Unless Sakura has been keeping a gender secret, the other guy is her.  
**InuNightWalker****-** It's a very long and annoying process that I will describe in four easy steps.  
1. Search Wikipedia for a jutsu that fits my needs.  
2. If I can't find one, I make up a cool name.  
3. Use an online English-Japanese dictionary to translate  
4. Wash, rinse, repeat.  
**To Taijiya Hatake Uchiha, korrd, and MysteyLadyTX-** Nothing personal, but yourquestions have too much risk of revealing the future plot for me to risk an answer, but to…where am I?  
**Man in white robes**- You will forget everything you just read!

**!Very Bright Flash!

* * *

**

**The Village Hidden by the Mind**

**(Nentuoinai No Sato)**

Let's step on the gas, there will be no need to bargain  
Go through night  
I will only complain at the end, the balance will be zero  
It wastes our days  
If you open your heart a little and bring your partner closer to you  
Your feelings will reach your partner better  
Try to live long and squeeze it away  
Although these legs get entangled with each other I'm able to go further with them  
Even if I steal it and get a hold of it  
If it's not you, there is no meaning  
So go far away into the distance

**Chapter 7**

He turned in his sleep. The dream was something he had never seen before. He was in a dark hallway, water dripping from several rusted pipes on the wall. Several lights dimly lit the dark hallways. He glanced around; several doors had been blocked by a strange colored chakra, while others were made out of the chakra. Ahead of him, the hallways were covered in a red chakra that seemed to be mixing with the strange chakra. From the other side of the red chakra, a voice was calling to him.

"We need to talk," the voice cried before it faded away. The black chakra blocked the path leading into the hallway consumed in red chakra. One of the doors created out of this chakra opened and he glimpsed at the worst moments of his life. Each moment he glimpsed made him wish the memories would leave, but to no success. He opened his eyes to the shining moon in the cold night.

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The night in Konoha was exceptionally warm. The moon shone over the whole village, setting an eerie glow across the rooftops. A strong wind blew in across the village sending the leaves to brush against each other. Two ninja sneaked past a much older one guarding the door into the Hokage's tower. He had noticed them, but didn't bother to stop the two genin from entering. Especially since he had both of them in his school; one a year before, the other just recently. He shook his head and muttered, "I better tell Lord Hokage."

The two of them crept through the silent hallways. The doors had been mostly locked, but none of these doors were the one they were after. At the end of this hallway stood a black door that had been sealed shut from both sides. Intruders could not leave nor enter the room on the other side. Neither of them bothered with the locks however. The taller one made one hand sign and the door swung open revealing the room within. It was an ability taught to everyone in the Hyuga Clan in their attempt to compete with the Uchiha clan before the massacre. The girl stepped into the room first and glanced around at the metal room. On one side was the door they entered, on the other a metal door.

She glanced back at her cousin who scoffed as he stepped into the confines of the small metal room, "Tell me again why we're doing this."

"It's because…well…I wanted to…" she stuttered for a moment and began to have second thoughts. She didn't drag her cousin to come with her; it was his duty as a member of the branch family to protect her. He leaned against the wall and watched as Hinata opened the next door. She stepped within the room that was covered from ceiling to floor with shelves filled with scrolls. Running up and down the room was even more shelves, some full and others empty. Each row had been labeled with a year, team, and rank.

She scanned up and down the rows, expecting to find something. At the far end in the back of the room was a shelf labeled: **NEW GENIN**. She looked through each of the shelves and found only eight shelves that each had one scroll. A ninth box that was empty had a smudged name on it. She tried to make out the words over the shelf, "An…Ana…Ara…Araz…Arazh..."

After only making out the last name, Arashi, she gave up and turned her attention to a black file cabinet labeled; Hokages. To her surprise, the cabinet was left open. She scanned the names of each of the Hokages and stopped at the fourth; Arashi. She opened it to find it nearly cleaned out except for a few scrolls, one of which was labeled: **_Last Will and Testament_**. She reached for the scroll and opened it, scanning it quickly for any word that stood at her. As she got close to the end of it, she found one last word that stood out; Uzumaki. She stopped and looked back to the top of the paragraph, reading it quietly;

_I doubt whether or not he will be safe because of the creature to be sealed within. I fear for his protection and safety, and doubt the possibility that even the next Hokage or any ninja in the village can protect him. In the event that I am forced to seal it within the child, I wish his name to be changed to Uzumaki. I would like him to be remembered as the hero he will be if it is sealed within him. It is my life that I give to the village, but not at the expense to ruin that of another, especially if the other is my-_

The paragraph stopped there. She read ahead and found that it didn't pick up anywhere. But it did occur to her that the words; Kyubi no Yoko; kept appearing every few sentences. She blinked again and glanced back at the shelf labeled; Arashi. She replaced the scroll and closed the drawer. She stood up again and glanced into the shelf again. It was still empty, but she reached into the shelf, expecting to find something. She moved her hand around and felt the empty space of the small box. She sighed and began to consider that maybe she had hallucinated the boy. Behind her she heard several scrolls falling out of their shelves and piling onto the ground. She stood up and turned to see her cousin looking through a book he had pulled out of a shelf under a section labeled Jonin.

"Neji…we have to be quiet."

"Just let me see something," he said as e turned the pages of the book. She walked to him and glanced at the book, it was a list of every jonin and the genin students that they were assigned. The book was opened to a page displaying a man with white hair and a mask that covered most of his face. His headband was propped to the side and beneath this photo were the photos of three others. The first two she recognized as Sakura and Sasuke. It was the next photo that made her gasp. It was a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes, he smiled confidently and had his arms folded. The name beneath the photo read; Uzumaki Naruto.

"That's the…," she started. Neji raised his eyebrows, "I didn't know that Kakashi sensei had a third student."

The examined the page a little longer and read a note on the side of the photo that said: Remind Kakashi to handle with caution, child is subject to be target of known enemy organizations and villages as the jinchuriki of Kyubi no Yoko. To be kept emotionally, physically, and mentally stable at all times.

"The Kyubi?" Neji asked himself, "I thought it was destroyed about thirteen years ago."

Hinata hadn't heard what her cousin had said. She didn't know why but even though it was a mere photo, she already felt "attracted" to him. She even felt an odd compassion for him, they way most other girls reacted around Sasuke.

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The pale faced man walked through the woods, smirking to himself. Several of his followers had gone ahead to spy on the village and by now they would tell him everything he needed to know. He flicked his tongue and wondered if the boy was still there. He smirked when he thought of all the power he would have at his disposable once he took the boy's kekkei genkai. He let out a laugh thinking of the new techniques he had acquired just a little earlier. He had taken pleasure in their screams of pain as the three travelers died almost immediately. With them was a fourth, the one he recognized as the child of the Kazekage. He wondered if the child was still even alive.

When he left the boy he had used the techniques he learned from the three men he was traveling with to drive him insane. He flicked his tongue at the thought that he was probably lying dead somewhere in the forest, screaming as the memory he had left within the boy replayed itself over and over again. He withdrew from his thoughts and focused on his target, the sole survivor of the Uchiha massacre.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto anime or manga, but the Nentuoinai no Sato and any characters from said village, is my idea and belongs to none else.

**Pre-Author's Note**: Below Lyrics taken from Naruto Opening for Season 1. Sigh, Once again any typos, grammatical errors, or any such phenomenons are the fault of the ninja of the Bodiinai no Sato. And who knows, it may become a NaruHina pairing.

**The Village Hidden by the Mind**

**(Nentuoinai No Sato)**

I'm in a hurry like I'm being chased,  
My dry heart spurs me on  
Our moment right now isn't for anyone or anything else.  
Undo the pain, Undo the soul, Undo the shadows  
Take a deep breath and run through, ripping the darkness  
Fighting and being in love  
Will not end on the way  
I want to rocks  
Rocks my heart

**Chapter 8**

Hinata looked at the book, Neji had handed it to her having memorized all he needed about Sasuke. She examined the writing closer before slipping the photo into her pocket. Someone grabbed her shoulder, making her gasp in fear. She turned around to see the Hokage staring down at her. He shook his head and asked, "Hinata, Neji, what are you two doing here?"

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The mood in the Hokage's office was grim moments later. The old man had invited the Hyuga clan head, Hyuga Hiashi, to his office. Hiashi was under the impression that he would be given an important mission but was shocked to see his disowned daughter and his nephew in the office. Hiashi took a seat on the other side of Neji.

"Good, you're here Hiashi," the old man said. He placed more tobacco in his pipe and rose from seat, "Your daughter and your nephew were caught in the village records."

"What!" Hiashi said. He rose from his seat and glared at both Hinata and Neji, "Neji, is this true?"

"Yes, uncle."

"I'm afraid it is," the Hokage said. He shook his head and took a scroll from within his robe, "It is one of the village's most severe crimes; something punishable by death!"

"Death?" Hinata asked. She shook a little at the mention of possibility of being killed.

"Yes, death," the old man said. He turned to face the clan leader, "Since you're the clan leader, it's partially your decision. Two of the village elders were summoned as well."

"They were?" Hiashi asked the old man. He nodded and stared as the door slid open. Standing on the other side were an old woman and old man with graying hair. They had an annoyed look on their face and seemed partially distracted by something, "Why did you call us here so late Sarutobi?"

"I'm sorry about this Homura, Koharu," the hokage said resuming his seat behind his chair, "but we caught two of our ninja breaking into the village records."

"Two of ours?" the elderly woman asked as she glanced from Hiashi to Hinata and Neji. She raised her eyebrows and stated, "These kids?"

"Sadly," the hokage said. Hiashi folded his arms and stated, "They have shamed the Hyuga clan."

"Your pride aside, the village protocol states the immediate deaths of any intruders into the records," the hokage made it clear that it was a serious matter. The old woman cleared her throat and started, "But these two are just kids."

"I know," the hokage said, "Which is why you're here."

"What do you propose?" the old woman said half in surprise. The hokage glanced back at Hinata who sat quietly in her chair. He was bothered that Hinata had been bothered so much to get into the records. This alone was something he would never expect her to do. Neji spoke up, "So what are you going to do with us?"

"Hiashi?" The Hokage asked from behind his desk. Hiashi was at a lost. His oldest daughter and nephew were going to be killed and even if he asked them to be spared the least possible punishment they could get was…he refused to believe this was happening.

"I suppose that since none of us agree with the death sentence we should consider an alternative," the hokage stated. Hiashi looked up at the old man as he smoked his pipe, "You mean…"

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Hinata was at Kurenai's home again, packing what was left of her things. She had been spared from death, and yet she was still going to be punished. She sat in her room eyeing the rest of her clothes that lay in the drawer. She looked at herself in the mirror. The newest feature on her was the mark placed on her forehead. She placed her forehead protector over it to make it less noticeable. Behind her, the door of the room slid open. Kurenai leaned against the doorway and asked, "Why did you do it?"

"You mean…break into the records?" Hinata answered. Kurenai nodded lazily and waited for a response. Somewhere outside a bird was chirping harmlessly. After several moments passing she asked, "Was it about that boy you were talking about yesterday?"

Hinata nodded weakly. Kurenai rolled her eyes, "So you went into the records to see if he actually existed?"

Hinata nodded again, "Did you find anything?"

"No," she lied. It was a poor lie at that, and Kurenai saw through it, "So you did."

"Just…a picture," she said. Kurenai shook her head, "But to go so far as to break in?"

"I'm…I'm sorry Kurenai Sensei," she finished. Kurenai smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile. It was her first time leading genin and one of them had already been banished. She tightened her fist and thought how terrible she was as a team leader.

"No, I'm sorry Hinata," she said. Hinata looked up at her. She placed the rest of her things in the bag and left the small apartment. On her way to the village entrance she found herself face to face with Sakura.

"Hinata, is what they're saying true?" she asked quickly. Hinata couldn't look up. To her; she had not only shamed her father, but lost all hope of redeeming herself in his eyes. She nodded.

"Oh…I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's okay," There was a moment's pause.

"Hinata, does the name Naruto mean anything to you?" Sakura asked. Hinata looked up at Sakura in shock. She nodded, "Where did you…?"

"It kind of popped into my head yesterday," she shrugged. She showed Sakura the photo, who examined it closely. She squinted her eyes and nodded, "Where did you get this?"

"The records."

"Hokage-sama let you into the records?" she asked. Hinata shook her head. Sakura frowned and said, "Oh…that's why…"

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Later that day, Hinata and Neji left the village. Sakura had been bold enough to bring There was no one else there when they left with the exception of two or three guards to make sure neither of them would try to enter the village. The guards had made a point of taking their forehead protectors away; it was to show that they were no longer shinobi of Konohagakure, which was the purpose of the mark on their forehead. Hiashi was too pained to be there, and the Hokage had to attend to a matter involving some nukenin or another sighted in the area. There were no tears or crying. As the two left, they remained unaware of the two figures watching them from a distance.

"Isn't that just sad. They're about your little brother's age correct?"

"Those three…how did they remain unaffected?"

"What do you mean?"

"When those Nentuo shinobi came here, they wiped everyone clean. They, on the other, hand seem to have some kind of resistance to it. That or they were extremely infatuated with the boy, really close, or have some kind of personality disorder."

"So what do we do?"

"We'll follow her. She'll lead us right to our target."

"Which one?"

"The one who's leaving."

"Why didn't we just go find him?"

"Those were shinobi from the Nentuo. They know how to cover their tracks. They could be miles away, or be right under our noses."

"So we'll have these two do the searching for us?"

"Yes, in which time we'll have time to prepare for the next fight, but we'll have to stay hidden."

"Staying in the shadows? That's no fun."

"We're not here for fun. We're here to get the fourth's legacy."

"Is that so?" the two men turned to face four others. One a tall pale faced man with snake-like eyes, the other three dressed in purple. The smallest amongst them was a man slightly older than himself with white hair and glasses. The snake-like man smiled, "I didn't know you were here, Itachi."

"Orochimaru, I wasn't aware they allowed scum in Konoha. Why are you here?"

"I'm here to acquire a little friend of yours."

"Who?"

"I'm sure you wouldn't care even if I told you," the man flicked his tongue. Kisame took a step forward but was stopped in his tracks by Itachi, "You'll only hurt yourself."

"That's right. So interested to know who I'm after?"

"Sasuke?"

"So you know, I'm not really surprised."

"You're after my little brother?"

"So you do care, my, I learned more and more about you with each second, don't I?"

"Are you going to kill him?"

"Why would I do that, when there are so many more possibilities?"

"So he has the sharingan then."

"So you do care?"

"No…not for him."

"Then I'll just be on my way."

Orochimaru turned to leave, his three lackeys preparing to follow, when he was stopped in his tracks by a kunai that landed inches from his feet. Orochimaru smirked and believed things were going to become interesting. He turned to face Itachi, who had removed his rice hat.

"I'm not going to let you have it," he said. Orochimaru laughed and said, "You do care for your brother then. But tell me, would you hit a weak, old man?"

As he said this he reached for his face and began to peel the skin off of it. Once the skin was off Itachi was looking at the face of a pale old man, "Would you?"

"What kind of idiot do you take me for?"

"Kabuto! Yoroi! Misumi! Kindly deal with these two; I have somewhere else I'm supposed to be."

Orochimaru's three compatriots surrounded both Kisame and Itachi. Itachi scoffed as he drew a kunai from within his coat. Kisame drew his sword and their three opponents followed suit by drawing their own weapons.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto anime or manga, but the Nentuoinai no Sato and any characters from said village, is my idea and belongs to none else.

**Pre-Author's Note**: I ran out of theme songs and I'm bored of blaming the Nentuo shinobi, so I'llfind another scape goat. Now thenon with the story.

**The Village Hidden by the Mind**

**(Nentuoinai No Sato)**

**Chapter 9**

Four newcomers arrived in Nami no Kuni. Three of them were in white robes; the other wore a black jumpsuit. The group met with two others; a much older man dressed in formal kage clothing and the other in a black vest. An eerie mist hung in the air.

"Do you have him?"

"Yeah," the leader of the group of four said. She took a step to the side and let the boy in the black jumpsuit walk forward. The man smiled at another job done. As the boy moved towards them, the man noticed that he was in a trance like state. His eyes were completely empty. The only sign of any life in the boy was the occasional twitch of his finger and red pulse that glowed on his body. _Surprising, _the man thought, _like all the others he's managing to overcome the genjutsu…I wonder why?_ Once the boy stood feet from the old man he snapped his fingers. Two ninja appeared at the boy's side, grabbed him, and then disappeared.

There was an awkward silence between the three before the shortest said, "Uh Nibankage-sama."

"Yes?"

"You should know, we think that kid is becoming immune to the genjutsu."

"I'll keep that in mind," he answered. He smiled to himself, _It's to be expected from the Kyubi no Yoko's jinchuriki._

"Nibankage-sama, since you're within Omoikage-sama's circle; can tell us why omoikage-sama wants with all these kids?" the captain asked. The old man frowned, "Later Anra, we have a new assignment for you."

"Yes, nibankage-sama," she answered. The old man reached into his robes and pulled out a scroll. He opened it and scanned down a list of names, "Team 2, the one that was sent to Sunagakure, never reported back after they crossed into Hi no Kuni. They're also several hours late. You need to go find them and report back when you do."

"Sir," the three said in unison as the left. Nibankage and his guard turned and left. His mind went back to the captain's question. He would have answered, but it would blow the operation, _Omoikage doesn't even know that this operation is going on right under his nose. That old man couldn't see a mountain if it was right in front of him._

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Neji and Hinata walked down the road. The day was surprisingly cool. As they walked, Neji noticed a lot of sand on the ground. He looked back at Hinata, who had noticed the sand as well.

"Where'd all this sand come from?" Hinata asked. Neji glanced around and activated his byakugan. His veins bulged as he scanned the area. He searched the trees and found a figure running around in circles through the trees. He deactivated the byakugan and said, "This way!"

The two of them leaped from the branches deep into the forest, to a point where the trees had become thick enough to block out sunlight. The two of them activated their byakugan's so they could go see in the dark. As they went deeper Hinata stated, "I didn't know the forest could get this dark."

"It doesn't," Neji answered her. She glanced at him, "What do you…"

Neji stopped and Hinata landed on the same branch as him, "The forest isn't this naturally dark. Someone's using a genjutsu."

"Do you think it's the person ahead?" she asked. Neji shook his head, "No…It wouldn't explain why he's running around in circles. For all we know he's the one the genjutsu is being used on."

"So that must mean that there are others here too," Hinata said. Neji nodded, "Probably, and if they see us we're dead."

"Right," she said. The two were off towards whoever was running in circles. After several minutes, they arrived at a tree, running around it was a red headed boy with a gourd on his back. He had large bags under his eyes and the word; love; was tattooed on his forehead. As he ran around the tree he screamed at it loudly, "No! You're lying!"

As he screamed, sand came out from his gourd and struck the tree before scattering. He panted before saying, "Shut up!"

Again more sand came from out of his gourd and covered the tree. He put his hand out and yelled, "I'm going to kill you!"

He made a fist and the sand destroyed the tree it covered. He then turned to face another tree and yelled, "Why won't you die!"

As he continued with his insanity, Neji and HInata watched silently. After a while Neji said, "He is probably under a genjutsu."

As Neji said this, sand wrapped itself around the tree they were standing on and the tree exploded, sending wood and bark in multiple directions. Neji and Hinata had managed to get off the tree and watch from another.

"What's wrong with him?" Hinata asked.

"He's under the genjutsu," Neji answered.

"Then let's undo it," Hinata suggested.

"We can't use our techniques, remember," Neji shot back.

Hinata looked back at the boy as the sand wrapped itself around his body, creating a massive shell. As it closed itself he muttered, "Just shut up and die!"

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Sasuke was at the training ground practicing the chidori that Kakashi had taught him. He had already made three dents in the rock, and he had become tired. He gasped for breath, and leaned against a tree. He watched the dents and said, "I have to get stronger…I have to kill him!"

He put his arm out and began to focus his chakra, _I have to focus._ _I have to get revenge,_ he though to himself. He began to hear birds twittering before he felt something. He had no idea what it was, but he felt dizzy. He looked down and found himself wearing strange clothes. He raised his hands and saw how pale they were. He looked at his new clothes and noticed the exploding tag on it. He looked ahead and saw…himself.

"Oh I get it…genjutsu," Sasuke said. His eyes widened because it wasn't his voice he heard. The person ahead of him turned around and smiled, "If this isn't a genjutsu, then I couldn't do this."

The person snapped his fingers, and the last thing Sasuke saw was a blinding flash of light and an explosion.

Orochimaru watched his previous body fall to the ground and burn. The smell of burning flesh filled the air. Orochimaru looked at his new body and said, "Those Nentuo shinobi were more useful than I thought."

"Hey, Sasuke!" someone called. Orochimaru turned around to see a pink haired girl running towards him. He smiled to himself and thought, _she will make the perfect person to test this new body on._


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto anime or manga, but the Nentuoinai no Sato and any characters from said village, is my idea and belongs to none else.

**Pre-Author's Note**: Lyrics taken from the 1st ending theme. Grammar errors are the fault of the Nentuo shinobi and their genjutsu. Since telling the story from Hinata's perspective is making it harder to stay focused on the actual plot, I'm switching back to Naruto's perspective. For people who don't like long explanations, just skip ahead to the first line of &&&. For people who are curious to the origins of the nentuoinai, read away.

**The Village Hidden by the Mind**

**Nentuoinai no Sato**

Cultivate your hunger before you idealize  
Motivate your anger to make them all realize  
Climbing the mountain, never coming down?  
Break into the contents, never falling down?  
My knee is still shaking, like I was twelve  
Sneaking out the classroom by the back door  
A man railed twice though, but I didn't care  
Waiting is wasting for people like me  
Don't try to live so wise  
Don't cry cause you so right  
Don't dry with fakes or fears  
Cause you will hate yourself in the end.  
Don't try to live so wise  
Don't cry cause you so right  
Don't dry with fakes or fears  
Cause you will hate yourself in the end.

**Chapter 10**

A fox sat in his cage breathing heavily. A child had appeared before his cage. A child from a clan whose village sealed him in this cursed place. He smiled evilly at the boy, who seemed more confused than anything. The child made an attempt to flee, but there was no door for him to exit through. The boy turned to the massive creature and asked, "Who…who are you?"

"Ignorant little worm."

"What's going on here?"

"Many events have unfolded themselves in the last few days. I have a lot explaining to do, and you have much listening ahead of you. But before I can explain anything, I must undo what has been done."

Red chakra poured out of the massive cage, and creeped into his body through his ears, sending him into a trance like state. Images flashed through the boy's head, memories that he didn't remember. Once the last memory flashed, the red chakra left the boy and returned into the cage. The fox smiled and said, "My explanation begins long before you. There is a land, across the ocean, where the sky runs red with blood, and the sun no longer shines. The land was once ruled by a powerful leader and it was a prosperous time for the people, until his death. His three sons inherited the land and each created a hidden village as a symbol of their strength. These three brothers lived in a prosperous age."

The child sat down, and listened quietly.

"These villages were vast in size and population. Whole cities paled in comparison. Each village trained shinobi on elite levels. These shinobi were trained to be stronger, faster, and smarter than the shinobi from the other villages."

There was a moment's pause.

"But the seeds of deceit and evil had taken root. Their pride caused those seeds to grow. Their pride led to competition over who was better than the other. It was then revealed that one of the three killed their father. Sibling rivalry became fights, fights became battles, and nettle became war. This war burned through that land like a wild fire through a field of grass. The same way these three fight each other, so do brothers fight brothers, families are torn apart and all but hope and fear have dissipated. Their hatred is the fuel for this dark seed. The three brothers, in conflict, gained their own reputations; the manipulator, the juggernaut, and the tactician. These three alone are said to be able to destroy whole squads with one move. Now their war is now spilling over across the vastness of the ocean."

The fox stopped again.

"One of them has already placed shinobi on this side of the ocean. If this is allowed to continue, our land will become part of a much larger war. But beware the seed of deceit. There is a conspiracy here, and if either you or I dive to deep we will become part of this war. Since I cannot leave this cage, I require you to search this boy's mind to find him."

"You mean the loser?"

"Silence! If you only knew of his connection to the man who placed me in here, you may have shown more respect to my vessel."

"A loser is a loser, no matter who he's connected to."

The fox smiled even wider in agreement, but even more sinisterly, "Remember, you're only here because I allow it. Do anything or touch anything you shouldn't and I'll kill you myself."

"From behind that cage? I doubt you can even reach me!"

The Fox became annoyed. The red chakra started to pour out of the cage again. This time, it opened a door that led out of the room. The boy looked at the door before turning to the giant fox and asked, "By the way, how did I get here?"

"One of the three Sannin learned the techniques of one of the villages. How he did, I don't know. What I do know is, he used it to swap minds with you so he could have your body. Then he destroyed the body you were in, but I managed to pull you away from that body before you were killed."

"I'm not even sure I believe a word you said," the boy answered the fox. Still, he had nothing to do, so he decided to go find the loser.

"A good policy," The fox said to himself, "Still, he will be useful for the rest of the plan, Uchiha fool."

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The hallway was a blur. Naruto blinked, and he was able to make out two figures ahead of him. There were walking in a wooden corridor that rocked back and forth beneath them. The whole corridor was dimly lit. The figures ahead of him were talking, and he was barely able to make out their discussion, "So om-sama wants us t-ich room?"

"The l-ne."

It was then that he noticed small cages lining the room. Each of them were covered with an assortment of seals and tags. He looked at the closest cage; over it was a crudely made sign with the number three and a picture of a turtle. It was empty. He looked ahead of him past the two figures. His vision returned and he noticed a cage with the number 9 and a picture of a fox over it. It was then he noticed the rope tied around his hands and one of the figures was pulling the rope. The figure stopped in front of the cage and opened the small door.

"I'm not going in there if that's what you're thinking!" he said. The two figures looked back at him. It was then that the room shook greatly and Naruto was thrown into the cage. One of the figures locked the gate while the other looked back.

"What the hell are they doing up there?" he said. The two figures left leaving Naruto sitting in the cage. He looked up at the many lamps that hung from the ceiling. The cage he was in was covered with more tags than the rest, leaving it pitch black.

"Who's there?" someone called. Naruto looked out of the cage and saw someone in the cage next to his. It was another boy, younger than him, who had pale eyes with no pupils. His ears, however, were pointed and bat-like. He glanced towards Naruto and said, "Is somebody there?"

"You're looking at him," Naruto said. The person looked up and said, "I can't see you."

"What do you man, you're looking straight at me," he shot back. He kid shook his head and said, "No, I mean I'm blind."

"Oh…" Naruto looked at the sign over the cage. It had the number 7 and the image of a bat on it. He looked back to the blind boy, his ears were twitching. Naruto looked at the boy and asked, "What's your name?"

"It's…Nezumi…and could you not talk so loud?" he asked. Naruto looked at him and said, "I'm hardly talking."

"Ow!" Nezumi said covering his ears. He looked up at Naruto and said, "Too loud! Let me get these ear plugs."

He hummed to himself quietly and reached into his pockets, pulling out two small plastic corks and placing them in his ears. He stopped humming and said, "Okay, so, what was your name?"

"It's Naruto," Naruto said to Nezumi. Nezumi nodded and glanced around, "So where are you from?"

"Uh…" Naruto tried to remember. Then it occurred to him that aside from his name, he didn't remember a single thing that occurred before a few moments. He looked to Nezumi and said, "I don't know."

"That's too bad," Nezumi said, "But, you're not the only one. Half the people don't remember a thing before they got here."

"Huh," Naruto tried to think this out, but after several seconds his head began to hurt.

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Kakashi sat on the building's roof reading the next chapter to his book. As he read the book, he noticed the clang of metal on metal. He looked up from his book to notice three of the village's genin fighting two of the village's most wanted criminals. What was even stranger was that it was on the village's wall, for all to see. He blinked and watched the three genin perform jutsu's that would be considered too difficult for genin, as well as a technique that wasn't one used by Konoha shinobi. He blinked before putting his book down.

He made one quick hand sign and touched the ground with his had. Ink extended from it and there was a puff of smoke in front of him. When it cleared a small pug, wearing a blue vest and head band, appeared. The dog looked up at Kakashi and said, "You called?"

Kakashi nodded and said, "I need you to give hokage-sama a message."

"I'm not a messenger."

"You still have to do what I tell you," the pug paused before saying, "Okay, so what's the message?"

"Two S-rank criminals and three genin are fighting on the village's wall."

"Hm?" The pug's head turned at an angle before he looked at the village's wall. He watched the fight for several seconds before stating, "Aren't you going to help."

"Maybe later," the pug tilted its head before leaping away. Kakashi stood up and decided to sit back for a while until he was needed. Still, it bothered him that three of the village's genin were fighting on a jonin level alone.

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Hinata and Neji watched from their branch as the sand the boy had locked himself in caved in on itself. When the sand cleared, it became clear that the boy was unconscious and lying face down on the ground. Without thinking Hinata jumped down to the ground and looked at the boy. She examined him before looking up at Neji, still in the branch, and said, "Neji…aren't you going to help?"

"Hang on," he jumped down and said, "We better be quick about this, there are some people coming this way."

"Right," she said. She tried to lift the boy, but noticed that the sand was slowly surrounding itself around him in. she dropped him and took several steps back. From his waist down, the sand began to make a solid body until it became clear that the sand had made a giant raccoon like creature. Hinata and Neji took cover behind a tree and watched as the towering status of the raccoon made of sand made motions. Two glowing aqua beads appeared where the eyes should have been and the statue cried out, "I'm free!"

The giant creature looked out in the direction of Konohagakure and cried, "What, I'm Hi no Kuni?"

The creature then made it's towards Konoha, the ground shaking with each step that it took. Neji and Hinata exchanged worried looks before racing back to the village, even at the risk of their death.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto anime or manga, but the Nentuoinai no Sato and any characters from said village, is my idea and belongs to none else.

**Pre-Author's Note**: Lyrics taken from the 1st ending theme. Grammar errors are the fault of theNentuo shinobi and their genjutsu. Enjoy another chapter to the nentuoinai no sato.

**The Village Hidden by the Mind**

**Nentuoinai no Sato**

Can you hear me?  
The sky needs to be blue and clear  
The sea needs to be vast  
You need to have a smile on your face all the time  
Or else I will cry  
You don't have to look around anymore  
Everyone is safe inside these hands  
If you feel like crying or running away and forget about happiness  
Sing  
Light was born and then darkness was born  
The two are one  
Harmonia, please hear the…  
Telepathy  
Can you hear me?

**Chapter 11**

Sasuke looked around the hallway. It was dimly lit and water dripped down from the pipes that lined the wall. All of the doors were blocked by the odd colored chakra. He looked around and scoffed, "He could be behind any of these doors."

"Who could?" Sasuke turned around to see a familiar blonde with blue eyes and whisker marks on his cheeks. The boy was like Naruto in every likeness with the exception of the fact that he appeared several years younger.He appeared to be aboutsix.He examined Sasuke curiously. Sasuke rolled his eyes and said, "Or he could be right behind me."

"Huh?" Naruto looked over his shoulder, expecting to see someone, "There's no one there."

Sasuke groaned, "I meant you!"

Naruto pointed a finger at himself, "Who me?"

"Yes you," Sasuke began to become frustrated. Naruto tilted his head and said, "Have we met?"

"You idiot," Sasuke said. Naruto folded his arms and protested, "I am not an idiot!"

Naruto hit Sasuke across the face and said, "You're not nice!"

"Come here, you!" Sasuke growled grabbing Naruto by the collar and dragging him back to the room wherehe had met the giant fox. As he dragged Naruto, Naruto yelled and kicked. Sasuke growled, "Stop trying, before you hurt yourself."

Naruto stopped and said, "I don't know you, but you've already made a bad first impression."

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he opened a door. Behind was the giant red furred fox from before. The fox eyed Sasuke sinisterly and then switched his glance to Naruto. Sasuke started, "Alright, I got him, but I'll make you a deal; he's yours if you get me out of his head."

The fox sat quietly and watched as Sasuke waited for an answer. Naruto was examining the fox curiously.After several minutes Sasuke asked, "Well?"

The fox smiled sinisterly, "You're crafty, I'll admit. The problem is; you can't strike a bargain, if ou don't have anything to trade."

"What?" Sasuke roared as he looked at the childish Naruto he was holding. The boy was staring at the fox curiously and said, "Wow, you're big."

"How could he not be, he's acts just like him," Sasuke protested. The fox glared at Sasuke, "If you talk towards me like that again, I will kill you. As for the child, that is what's called naivety."

Sasuke looked back at the younger Naruto who had lost interest in the conversation and began humming to himself joyfully. The fox watched this version of Naruto interestingly and stated, "My host stopped being naïve toward's the world around himaround this version's age. So this version of him stopped growing."

As he said this, Naivety walked up to the cage and poked the fox in the nose, "You're nose is all wet."

Sasuke looked back at the fox who smirked sinisterly, "I admit, your cunningis something to be admired. Using the boy as a bargaining chip was daring, but never try anything like that again. Now get out, and don't come back until you find him."

With this Sasuke left, discouraged that his plan failed. Naivety, followed after Sasuke and said, "You are my new friend!"

"No I'm not," Sasuke groaned.

"So where are we going new friend?" Naivety asked. Sasuke groaned angrily.

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"So, Nezumi, who else is here besides us?" Naruto asked the blind boy. The boy looked up and answered, "Well, besides you and me there six others…There's Mizu-"

"Huh?" someone called. Naruto turned to the cage opposite Nezumi. The sign over the cage was the picture of a snake and the number eight. Inside was a red haired boy wearing glasses. He looked straight out of his cage and stuck his tongue out. He then turned to look at Naruto and said, "Did you say something."

"Uh…Mizu, this is Naruto," Nezumi said from his cage. Mizu eyes were snake like and threatening. Mizu stuck his tongue out again and said, "So…I guess you did something too."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked Mizu. Mizu started, "I have a couple of theories why we're here. One is that this is a prison, where they're going to experiment on us."

"What makes you so sure?" Naruto asked Mizu. Mizu smirked, "Besides waking up here, I remember someone yelling at me for taking something."

"Mizu, shut up!" someone else called. From inside the cage next to Nezumi, appeared a girl with dark hair, "We've all heard your 'theories' and their as stupid as you are!"

"Calm down Mesuinu," Mizu called from in his cage.

"Stop calling me that! I have a name!" she growled. As she said this, Naruto noticed the fang like appearance of her canines. Her nails were long enough to be claws. She turned to look at Naruto, "Ignore Mizu, he's as dumb as a rock."

"Oh, like you know why we're here?" Mizu asked. A fire appeared in boththe girl'seyes, "No I don't."

"Well at least I'm being productive!"

"No you're being annoying,"She shot back. Naruto looked over at Nezumi who was shaking his head. Naruto leaned over and asked, "What's with them?"

"The girl's name is Kichigai. I think they secretly dig each other.I mean they're always having alove spat," Nezumi said jokingly. His cage then shook violently. Kichigai was holding onto the bars and shaking it screaming, "We are not lovers!"

"I didn't say you were," Nezumi answered as the cage shook up and down. Kichigai roared, "But you implied it!"

The door to the corridor swung open and a blinding light filled the room. Kichigai dropped Nezumi's cage, and a man in white robes came in. He walked past the cages; stopping at Kichigai's and immediately began to make hand signs. After the last one, he left the room muttering, "I'm not paid enough for this."

Once he was gone, Nezumi looked inside Kichigai's cage and said, "She's asleep."

"I thought you said you were blind," Naruto argued. Nezumi looked back, "People don't snore when they're awake."

"So who else is here?" Naruto asked again.

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Kakashi watched the fight from afar. To no surprise the three genin were finally defeated by the two criminals. It took him a while to figure it out, but he recognized them as Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame. The two were turning to leave, but Kakashi decided he couldn't wait any longer for someone to come. He leaped off the roof and made his way to the village's wall. When he arrived there, he had with him two kage bunshin and had pulled his headband up so his sharingan was visible.

He stopped a few feet away from both Kisame and Itachi and had his kage bunshin surround the two criminals. Itachi wore an annoyed look on his face and began, "I have no time for you right now."

"I wasn't aware I'd be an inconvenience," Kakashi taunted Itachi. Itachi blinked and stated, "I was hoping I wouldn't have to use this."

Kakashi looked Itachi in the eye and realized several seconds too late what Itachi meant.

…

Kakashi couldn't breathe. He looked up as the criminal known as Kisame did away with the bunshin. Itachi loomed over Kakashi and said, "I really, don't have time to kill you."

Itachi and Kisame were about to leave, but they stopped as a figure approached them from the rooftops of the buildings. Kakashi looked over at the figure. As it drew closer, it became clearer that the figure was none other than Sasuke. Sasuke stopped between Kakashi and the Akatsuki. He looked from Itachi to the three unconscious genin before stating, "The pawns always have to be sacrificed."

"Sasuke," Kakashi ordered, "Get out of here."

"No."

"That was an order by your squad leader!"

"I don't have a squad leader," Sasuke turned on Kakashi and it was then that Kakashi noticed the blood on his shirt and on one of his kunai. Kakashi looked Sasuke in the eye, and saw that his sharingan was activated and his pupils were slit like. Sasuke walked over to Kakashi and leaned down, "I thought that you of all people would have put up a better fight before you died. Your other student wasn't so promising."

Sasuke licked his lip and smiled evilly. Kakashi's groaned, "Sasuke…you didn't…"

"I'm not Sasuke," he said as he swung the kunai in his hand and pointed it at Kakashi's neck, "This was the same kunai I used to kill her."

"Kakashi-sensei!" someone called out. Kakashi turned to see Hyuga Neji standing a few feet behind him. He looked from Sasuke to Kakashi and asked, "Sasuke, right?"

"Not anymore," Sasuke smirked. Sasuke lunged on Neji, kunai drawn. Neji stepped to the side and put Sasuke in a body lock, "If this is a joke, I'm not laughing."

"Neji," Kakashi muttered. Neji looked over at him as he struggled to get back up. Kakashi managed, "Sasuke…Orochimaru…Sannin."

Kakashi passed out. Neji then realized that he and Sasuke had switched places. Sasuke then pulled a sword out of his mouth. Unexpectedly Sasuke flew forward several feet and Neji was freed from Sasuke's hold. He looked up to see Itachi pinning Sasuke to the wall. The two had an exchange that was out of earshot.

"Dynamic Entry!" two people cried. Two guys in green jumpsuits and bowl hair cut appeared from nowhere and kicked Itachi across the face. Gai pinned Itachi to the wall while Lee helped Sasuke up. Gai began his rant, "Two S rank criminals picking a fight on genin and one jonin. I don't know about criminals…bullies maybe."

"Gai shut up!" Someone said. Gai turned around and saw Kurenai, Asuma and Hinata climbing up the stairs to the wall. Once at the top Kurenai looked past Gai and blinked. Asuma took a long drag on his cigarette and his face turned a strange hue of purple. Hinata started, "That's why Neji and I came back."

Gai blinked and asked, "What?"

"Gai, turn around," Kurenai managed. Gai blinked and looked past Itachi at the forest surrounding the village. Approaching the village was a large raccoon made entirely out of sand. Each step covered the ground in sand. Lee saw the same thing that Gai saw and asked, "Gai sensei, what is that?"

"It's called a biju," Asuma answered. In their confusion, Kisame managed to free Itachi from Gai and the two grabbed Sasuke. Then they leaped over the village wall and disappeared into the forest. Asuma and Kurenai cased after them, leaving Gai alone with the genin. He looked from the biju to Lee and said, "We have to report this to hokage-sama."

"Yes, Gai Sensei," the two leaped to tower, while Hinata helped Neji up. Along the village's wall, the guards shouted in disbelief as the biju approached.

**End of the Hinata's Search Arc**.

**Post-Author's Note: **Before someone tells me, that nobody died, read it again. Somebody died, and that somebody is dead from here on.

**What to expect on the next arc of Nentuoinai no Sato-**

Orochimaru, Akatsuki, return of the mystery shinobi trio, Konohagakure no Sato in flames, the jinchuriki, and another (flashes image of Itachi) character(flashes image of Kisame) will (flashes image of "Sasuke") die (flashes image of Kakashi).


	12. Announcement

**Announcement by the Leonardo1123581321:**

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. The second arc didn't start, go or end the way I wanted it to. I realized this after finishing Chapter 12. So, I'm considering revising the whole second arc. I'm keeping the one I already have up for whoever enjoys it, but the revised arc will be up soon… Hopefully…


	13. Chapter 12 Arc 3: Battles Across Hi no K

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto anime or manga, but the Nentuoinai no Sato and any characters from said village, is my idea and belongs to none else.

**Pre-Author's Note**: Hey! Yeah! Sup?

That's good, I'm good too. By the way: Merry Christmas, Happy Honukah, Happy Kwanza, and Happy whatever your religious denomination or non-religious organization celebrates. Anyway, I've been working on school work alot lately but that's besides the point. The revised chapter 6 followed an unoriginal plot where Naruto leaves the village and his friends try to convince him to come back. Therefore, revisions are cancelled. This time around I thought we might delve into what the mind shinobi have done to poor Naruto's memory. Lyrics taken from 9th Naruto theme. Grammatical errors are the fault of the ninja of the Nentuo...blah blah blah...You're already reading aren't you...Sigh.

* * *

Now let's recap: 

**Naruto's Story: **Waking up in a hallway where he was forced into a cage, Naruto has met three other kids around his age.

**Sasuke's Story:** Training with the chidori he recently learned, Sasuke found himself in someone else's body, realizing too late it had an exploding tag on it. Waking up inside a room with a cage holding a giant orange fox, he searches the long dark hallways for the one he considers his rival.

**Hinata's Story:** Encountering an injured boy in the forest whose body was enveloped in sand and became a giant beast made entirely of sand bound for Konoha. She arrives in time to tell both Asuma and Kurenai what's happening.

**Itachi's Story: **Unable to stop Orochimaru from inhabiting his brother's body, he took Sasuke (Orochimaru) and left with Kisame, with Kurenai and Asuma in hot pursuit.

**Higama, Anra, Rekiru's (aka Mystery Shinobi) Story:** Finally dropping off the target they were supposed to acquire, they were sent on another mission to locate a team that had failed to report in.

**The Village Hidden by the Mind**

**(Nentuoinai No Sato)**

In these wavering skies  
I will fly to you  
Since we've always been together  
The space between us has become too big  
Waiting for your honest reply  
Anyone would be lonely  
If you're crying in the town, I can't see  
Even if I'm not with you, my smile will reach you  
In these wavering skies  
I will fly to you  
I can feel it this close  
These two feelings

**Battles Across Hi no Kuni Arc**

**Chapter 12**

Konohamaru approached his grandfather's office. He had the shuriken they used at the academy in hand, and he was ready to challenge his grandfather for the title of hokage…again. He wasn't aware that the shuriken was plastic. He approached the door and slid it open so he could watch what was happening. His grandfather was placing on some armor underneath his robes and was talking to a man with a bowl hair cut.

In a way, Konohamaru was glad he was doing that, _He's starting to take me seriously!_ He threw the door open and ran straight at the old man screaming, "Today is the day I beat you old man!"

He ran forward and managed to trip on the scarf he wore. He landed face first into the ground. He got up and cried, "Ow, my nose!"

The Hokage approached Konohamaru and picked him up, "Konohamaru…I don't have time to play with you today. I have something important to do."

"You're not going anywhere!" the little boy cried before tripping on his scarf. The hokage picked up Konohamaru again and left with the bowl haired man. Konohamaru sat alone, "I wonder what's happening."

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Anra, Higama and Rekiru leaped through the woods. They stopped on top of a branch, each of them were tired. Rekiru reached into a bag and pulled out three pills. He tossed a pill to each of his teammates before swallowing his own. Almost immediately, he felt his energy return.

"Hey guys…do you remember that team we were supposed to find?" Rekiru asked. Anra and Higama turned to look at him, "Yeah, why?"

"I think I just found them," he said. They looked down below them…at three mutilated bodies. At the base of the tree hung the body of a man, there was a gaping stab wound in his chest. Another body was cut in half and scattered several feet apart. His entrails were the only thing connecting both halves. The last person had been bitten in several limbs, and stared up at the sky in fear. They jumped down and examined the wounds on the last person. Rekiru, the squad's medic/specialist, recognized the bites.

"A snake got this guy," he announced. His two teammates looked around nervously, "I'd say they were killed about…two days ago?"

"So whoever killed them must have taken the kid?" Anra asked. Rekiru shook his head, "No…there are two sets of tracks leading away from here. One goes straight through here; the other seems to break off in another direction."

"Alright, Higama follow these tracks," she said pointing in one direction, "Rekiru and I will go the other direction."

"Aw, I knew you liked him," Higama said jokingly. Anra punched the man across the face and sent him face first into the ground. She shook her fist at him, "I don't like him. He's just a lousy fighter."

"No argument here," Rekiru chimed in.

" I swear, if I wasn't your captain I'd kill you."

"Get back here!" somebody roared out. Immediately, the three of them took cover as two men in black robes ran past. The men from a few days ago, and one of them were dragging a struggling boy. The two of them were being chased by another two, a man in standard ninja fatigues the other in an odd colored-robe. As soon as they were gone, the trio came out of hiding.

"That's not a good sign," Anra said, "There might be more of them around."

"Alright, don't get sighted. What freq?" Higama asked. Anra put a small radio in her ear, "12"

Higama went in the opposite direction of Anra and Rekiru. Higama followed the tracks some distance before his Anra contacted him, "Higama…there's a lot of sand on this track. It's all moving in one direction, the rest of it isn't moving."

"Okay," Higama answered. He continued following the tracks expecting that to be going on for some amount of time. He was nervous though, Team 2 was better than his team in every way. If whoever killed them could do that, then his team would be no better off. As he continued he found two men straight ahead of him, apparently back tracking, wearing the same uniform he had under his robes. The uniform was a black jumpsuit and a gray vest. Higama approached them, keeping his guard up, and asked, "When has the Nentuo ever lost?"

"Such a thing has never occurred," one of them responded. Higama nodded and calmed himself, "Why are two ANBU this far out?"

"Four people screwed up their jutsus. We have four people running around the village believing that the target...Uh…"

"…what?"

"We weren't supposed to tell him!" The larger of the two stated.

"I'm sorry, it just slipped." The other apologized.

"I'll deal with you later!" the larger Anbu said drawing a kunai from his vest. Higama took a quick stance to counter whatever was thrown his way. Then he heard it. He turned in time to avoid two kunai that landed at his feet. He grabbed the sword on his back and took a swing at the larger nin. Missing the man, he drew a kunai from inside his robes and blocked a third kunai that appeared. He looked up to see the shorter nin diving down on him with a katana.

Higama stepped to the side as the nin landed. The Anbu swung his sword and Higama dodged by jumping up and landing on the sword. Higama took a swing at the ANBU who vanished in a puff of smoke. In the second he registered this, a hand appeared out of the ground, pulled Higama neck deep into the dirt, and left him there. The two nin put away their weapons as Higama struggled to free himself. They turned their backs on him as several wolves appeared from the trees, eyes hungry and mouths drooling.

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"Get back here!" Kurenai cried as she threw several kunai at the Kisame. Kisame turned, blocked all of them, threw his own set of kunai at her and continued to run. Asuma used his trench knives to block the kunai and continued after them, Kurenai began to pull ahead of him. They had chased the two criminals for some time, but it did not occur to either to get some help. "Sasuke" appeared to be putting little effort into getting free of his brother. In truth, he had used one of the many jutsus he learned from the three nin he found earlier to take over both Kisame and Itachi's mind. They were under his complete control. _Those nin were of more use than they looked._

_Kisame! Eliminate them!_ Orochimaru thought while simultaneously Itachi cried, "Kisame! Eliminate them!"

Kisame stopped in his tracks and stuck his arm out. Kurenai, who saw it too late, ran face first into Kisame's extended arm. He drew his sword and swung towards Kurenai, shaving off part of her sleeve. Asuma stopped Kisame from attacking again by knocking him over with a strong kick to the face. Kisame recovered in time to see Asuma help Kurenai up. He looked behind him to find a conveniently located puddle. Taking his chance, he made several quick hand signs.

Asuma and Kurenai looked up to notice that a fog was settling in on them. The fog thickened, blinding them to their surroundings. They stood back to back with their weapons drawn, in an attempt to cover each others defenses. Naturally, two Kisames appeared and began their attack. Asuma side-stepped and cut the Kisame with his kunai, before it burst into water. Kurenai, had trapped the other Kisame in a tree that wrapped itself around him.

She then vanished in a poof of smoke when a third Kisame took a swing at her. Asuma took his chance and tried to hit the third Kisame with his trench knives. Kisame managed to use his sword to block the first fist, but the second fist went straight past and hit him square in the chest. Kisame jumped back several feet, and began to plan his counterattack.

He turned to see both Kurenai and Asuma charging on him.

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Naruto looked over as everyone else in the cage room was introduced. Apparently, between five kids; the fifth being a young little girl named Raikou Itachi; there were two adults; one being a young woman named Yugito and a middle aged man named Orochi Chikin. Itachi appeared underfed but was quite energetic. Chikin appeared constantly stressed, even though he wasn't, and kept to himself according to Nezimu. Yugito was similar to Chikin, but seemed more open in meeting everyone else.

"So how long have you guys been here?" Naruto asked. Kichigai answered first, "I got here first…I think…feels like a couple of weeks."

"Weeks, huh?" Naruto asked. He looked around the room. Nine cages, seven people, two weren't here yet. He looked up at the number and drawings over each of the cages; 1 raccoon, 2 cat, 3 turtle, 4 a weird bird-snake animal, 5 dog, 6 a spiked weasel, 7 bat, 8 snake. He couldn't see the one on top of his cage but he remembered enough to know it was a 9 and a fox. He sat there and wondered to himself what they meant..._The biju? No…they're all dead…I mean…It's what happened isn't it?_

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"I'm hungry."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Can I get some ramen?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Where are we going to get ramen?"

"I don't know."

"Exactly!"

"You're not nice."

"Do you mind, I'm in the middle of something."

"Not really."

"I meant, I have to do something important."

"Can I help?"

"No!"

"Please!"

"No, really, I'm fine."

"I can help! Really!"

"I'm sure."

"So I can help?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

Sasuke was at his limit. He couldn't take anymore conversing with the miniature Naruto. He had no idea where he was, he was looking for someone he couldn't even find, and now he was stuck with what could possibly be the most annoying thing ever conceived, aside from Naruto himself. Because the mini Naruto shared the same name as the real Naruto, Sasuke nicknamed him Naivety.

"Do you know where we are?"

Naivety looked around and gathered in his surroundings. His face twisted into what appeared to be concentrated thought. After several a seconds he pointed in the general direction of a third hallway and screamed, "It's that way!"

Naivety ran down the hall without a second thought, Sasuke following after. Further down the hall was a dark door that was locked from both sides, and was made from the same black glowing chakra as everything else in the dark hallways. Sasuke tried to open it, but it wouldn't open. After a fifth attempt, he decided to knock the door down with a chidori. He did, but he also severely damaged the hallway around him. He walked in, Naivety following.

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Naruto clutched his head, _What's going on?_ It felt as if someone were driving a spike through his head. The pain immediately subsided, and he was caught in a temporary trance.

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Sasuke blinked. He and Naivety were some distance outside the academy, several children were gathered in a circle kicking another. As they kicked him, the child pleaded that they leave him alone only to have dirt kicked into his eyes. This continued for about several seconds before the beaten child rose from the ground and jumped on one of his attackers. In a moments notice, the other kids were running while the child struck one of his attackers. The two kids began biting and pulling hair before a chunin appeared to break up the fight. The attacker was sent home to his parents and the other was dragged by the Chunin inside the academy.

Sasuke turned to leave but realized Naivety had followed after the child and the chunin. Sasuke followed reluctantly and found Naivety inside the academy, outside Iruka's office. His ear was pressed against the door.

"What are you doing?'

Naivety smiled, "I'm being a super secret spy!"

From inside, Sasuke could hear talking.

"Naruto this is the fifth time this week! Is everything alright?"

"Yes."

"Really? Looks to me like you got into a fight with several of the other students."

"but…but…they started it."

"You should have told a teacher."

"But I couldn't. They were-"

"You're receiving a detention."

"What? But, I didn't-"

"Maybe you'llknow better next time."

"but…but…"

"No buts. Get out of here."

The door slid open and a Naruto around the age of Naivety walked out of the room. He walked by, ignoring the two new comers. Sasuke was about to comment on Naruto, but there was a blinding flash and Sasuke found himself outside the academy again. This time, Naruto was walking out of the building, outside were two adults cracking their knuckles. One had bulging muscles, which explained why his shirt was ripping, and the smaller one appeared to be drunk. Sasuke was too far to hear anything, but from he could make out they were threatening the six year old, "Hit my son will you?"

"Maybe we should break his skull?"

"How about we just beat him senseless."

"Works for me."

The two men ran at NAruto, who tried to run into the academy only to find it locked. Sasuke ran after the two, with an intent to intervene. He arrived in time to see them corner Naruto in the back of the academy. Naruto tried to climb over the wall on somtrash cans, but failed when the larger man kncoked them over. Sasuke tried to help the cornered youth and tried to produce his chidori. There was a moments silence and Sasuke realized that nothing happened.

With this development, the two men began to beat Naruto. Sasuke made a jab for the larger one, but found himself sliding straight through the man. He looked over and watched as the helpless Naruto was abandoned behind the academy. Sasuke looked at his hands and wondered why he couldn't touch the two men. Lost in subconscience thought, he didn't realize that a red chakra grabbed his leg. He noticed this too late and was soon being dragged out.

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Mizu had made it his duty to poke Kichigai with a stick that he had made from some of the wood on the floor. He poked her as she snored away while Yugito and Itachi protested this action.

"Why? It's not like she feels it," he said. Almost immediately the stick was taken out of his hand and he was jabbed by it in the gut.

"Stop it!" Kichigai demanded before rolling on her side and going back to sleep. Naruto broke from his trance.

"Is something wrong?" Nezumi asked. Naruto shook his head, "No."

He searched his memory of the village. His only memory and it was completely negative. He wondered to himself if that was what his life was like outside of the cage. As he sat there mulling over this thought, the door to the room burst open followed by a flood of light that blinded everyone temporarily. In walked eleven men, one in white robes and the rest in black shinobi uniforms.

"Nibankage-sama, you may be second in command but you can't authorize this. We're still missing two of them."

"One is already here, we're still waiting on the others."

"What about 1? We were ordered not to do anything until all nine were here. Lord Omoikage-"

"He did authorize this."

"Let me see the papers."

The Nibankage hesitated before he pulled a kunai and jabbed the shinobi in the chest. Another shinobi stabbed the dying man through the throat. He fell to the ground with a thud. The Nibankage looked at two of his men, "Put him in the meat grinder. Label it...mystery meat. If anyone asks, he was a spy."

Two men dragged the dead shinobi out of the room and disappeared out of sight. The nibankage closed the door and motioned to the rest of the shinobi, "Begin a standard rewrite. Give 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 standard ANBU training. Put number 9 in a coma."

"Yes sir," the shinobi rang before going to work. They each began their techniques on each respective jinchuriki while the Nibankage walked out, "Where the hell is team 1?"


	14. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto anime or manga, or any of the said songs, music tracks or any other merchandise of the series but the Nentuoinai no Sato and any characters from said village, is my idea and belongs to none else. I am not Pheonstar, but thanks to him/her/it anyway.

**Pre-Author's Note: Happy Belated New Year:**I guess I should consider myself lucky. I never thought I would get this far. I'm going to try something new in this story and see how it works out. First open a new window and type in the address for youtube. Type in the following after the .com/,

watch?v(insert equals sign here)

Then type in the provided video ID. Again, this is just a thing I'm trying so it may not work out. Anyway, this is optional so you don't have to do it. If you do, but don't want to fuss with youtube, then ready these songs.

Songs in order:

Naruto 4th Ending Theme: Alive  
Need to be Strong  
Glued State  
Crisis After Another  
Turn Over  
Shikamaru's Theme  
Nine Tailed Demon Fox

Lyrics taken from 4th Naruto theme. Spelling and grammar errors are the fault of the Nentuo…careful though, they might be behind you…Look Out! Also, yesterday the new Naruto: Shippuden Season started!

**PS: **I've been a bad (insert what you think I am here, I refute to divulge any personal data). I changed a small fact in Chapter 11 for two reasons: an evil and annoying Sakura fan (You know who you are!), and I also needed it for the ending I have in mind for this story. I can already feel the number of people who stopped reading...Well, for those of you who are still here, enjoy:

**The Village Hidden by the Mind**

**(Nentuoinai No Sato)**

**Chapter 13**

Cue Intro: IxlfACyJZbg

Everyone makes mistakes…  
It's nothing to be ashamed of…  
Don't let this mistake go to waste…  
Be able to smile as you walk…  
Yes I breathe in the quiet air,  
And raise my face towards the sky and jump in.  
If it rains I'll take a breath,  
And let the wind decide where I'll go.  
I carry along many regrets  
But letting these wounds go to waste is stupid.  
Carve a medal in your chest and set sail  
Your life becomes a 'show time' from there.  
Everyone makes mistakes…  
It's nothing to be ashamed of…  
Don't let this mistake go to waste…  
Be able to smile as you walk…  
Turn your sadness into wind  
And just be able to keep moving forward…  
And just be able to keep moving forward…

End Intro

"Higama, do you copy?" There was a moment's silence, "Higama? Dammit! Alright, let's back track and go find his sorry ass. If he's goofing off I'm going to kill him!" Anra announced. She and Rekiru turned on their heels and ran back towards the clearing. The sand along the path they were going had become thicker and more active, leading them to believe they had come close to who or whatever they were tracking.

As they ran past the spot where they found the dead Team 2, Rekiru stopped in his tracks turned and began searching the downed bodies of their former comrades. It took Anra several seconds to realize Rekiru stopped and turned on her heels.

"What's the hold up?"

"We need to find the photo of the kid the team was traveling with."

"Oh…right," Anra felt stupid for having forgotten basics. Several minutes passed as the two of them searched the bodies of the dead team. Eventually Anra gave up and asked, "Find anything?"

"Yep," Rekiru handed her a picture of a boy with thick bags under his eyes and red hair. The look in his eyes screamed; I'll kill you. Another disturbing thing was the kanji on his head which read; "demon only loving himself".

"This kid has definitely got to be an insomniac."

"From the look of the kanji, the insomnia drove him off the deep end a long time ago."

"Think he killed Team 2?"

"Him? Are you joking?"

"No."

"Why? Does he scare you?"

"No."

"Does baby want his bottle?"

"Are we going to find Higama or not?"

"Yeah," the two were off in the general direction Higama had went. No sooner than a half-mile, they found Higama buried neck deep in the ground swatting at something invisible with a stick in his mouth. Rekiru walked over to him and stared at him for a second.

"Genjutsu, thinks he's fighting off a bunch of wolves."

Anra sighed, "Guess it couldn't have been helped."

She strolled over to Higama and punched that part of his head that was exposed. Higama immediately dropped the stick in his mouth and screamed, "Oh come on! How is that fair? A Bear?"

Anra cracked her knuckles, "Get some bandages Rekiru."

She slapped on brass knuckles and hit Higama straight across his face. Higama's first reaction was to scream out in pain. His second was to slowly regain knowledge of his surroundings. The wolves, and the bear, were gone and Anra and Rekiru had appeared from nowhere. His head ached where the bear had hit his head.

"Captain?" Higama asked. Anra crouched down and asked, "Why are you buried neck deep in dirt?"

Higama realized his situation and released himself with an escape technique. He gathered himself together and started, "Captain, there's something wrong. I saw ANBU come by here tryi-"

Anra had hit him across the head, "I think I need to hit you a few more times before that genjutsu wears off."

Higama rubbed the spot where Anra hit him, "I'm serious! I saw ANBU come by here. They said something about a Mind Sweep."

"Anra I think you hit him too hard," Rekiru commented, he knew Anra was kidding about the bandages but her physical strength was not something to joke about. She adjusted her knuckles, "Or maybe not hard enough."

"Are you sure about that Mind Sweep? With a village this size you would need at least an entire division of ninja. That's about a hundred There's no way you can sneak a hundred shinobi into a village without some one noticing."

"They said some people screwed up their techniques and a few them think that the target still exists, so either they had a Mind Sweep in place, or the whole village decided the day we left was a good time to binge drink."

"We left during a festival. Who wasn't binge drinking?"

"That doesn't explain the ANBU."

"Alright, we'll keep that in mind. Let's just focus on finding the kid."

No sooner had they said this but a monstrosity made from head to toe in sand stomped by, covering everything underneath it in its own covering. On its forehead was the upper-half of the boy whose picture Rekiru was holding on to. The boy seemed to be in a trance like sleep. Once it was out of sight, Rekiru turned to his captain and asked, "Did anyone else see that?"

Anra inhaled. It didn't add up. If this was the person Team 2 acquired, then what was that monster he was attached too. _Was it a biju...no. probably a genjutsu...but I didn't feel one...a transfomation? It was too big. The only remaining sensible explanation was a kekkei genkai._

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Cue Need to be Strong: 822GcFSTdq8

Almost immediately the wall was knocked down, debris flew everywhere, and villagers were sent screaming in a multitude of directions. The few who were unsuspectingly close to the wall were buried underneath rubble, but no one dared get past the giant monstrosity of sand. The giant raccoon creature gazed around at the village as people ran from him. Some of the village's shinobi had arrived to fight off the creature. They thought that after what had happened over 12 years ago they would have been prepared to fight a weaker biju. Too many hesitated too long and were buried in sand that poured from the creature's body. The sand turned into several cocoons and from within came the screaming of the shinobi. The screaming was cut short and blood sprayed everywhere as the sand dissipated.

Several more shinobi arrived and immediately they barraged the massive beast with kunai and shuriken. The sand covering the Shukaku swallowed each projectile as it made contact. The kunai and shuriken were thrown back at the men and women, slaughtering their numbers and reducing them to less than half.

A few, who had survived, dragged themselves up and began their counter attack. They threw the kunai back at the shukaku, whose skin absorbed it the same way as before. The creature let out a large burp, smoke climbing out of its mouth. A shinobi with a radio spoke into it, "Initial attack, ineffective. It ate the exploding tags!"

"I know, I saw, refocus attack on the boy on the creature's forehead," the radio responded. The man looked up noticing that the upper-half of a boy was visible on the creature's forehead. The man signaled to the survivors of his team and they understood immediately. The man made several hand signs and created several bunshin, which all leaped for the boy on its forehead. They were all stopped by a barrage of kunai. The bunshin vanished in a puff of smoke as the original fell to the ground, covered in kunai with exploding tags attached.

He fell to the ground as several panicking villagers ran past. The tags went off, and the street was marked with dismembered limbs, blood, a smoldering crater and smoke. The rest of the shinobi began to rethink their attack and many tried to bring the crowd under control, and help those who had tripped and were being trampled. This proved fruitless since many of the villagers were to scared to listen to the shinobi as they gave orders.

In the midst of the chaos, the two Hyuga children carry a half dead jonin.

"This way," Neji said, as he carried the limp form of Kakashi through the chaos of the street. A short distance behind them, the monstrosity laid waste to nearby buildings and more shinobi who attempted to hold back the monster.

Neji and Hinata, of course, had to fight the urge to help since they couldn't use any of their jutsus which rendered them useless. As Neji continued to carry the load of the jonin on his back he scanned around for a possible clear path they could take to the hospital. _We could try leaping from the buildings, but then that thing will see us, _Neji thought. There was a squeal behind him and Neji turned to see his cousin get knocked down by a panicked villager and stepped on by several others.

Neji had no choice, he dropped the jonin on the side of a building and ran towards his cousin, even if she was a member of the main family. He picked up the half trampled kunoichi and looked up in time to see several more shinobi arrive to tackle the biju.

"Hey!" Neji called. The shinobi didn't hear. They were either too busy maintaining crowd control or trying to take the monster down. Realizing he was left to his own devices. He ran back to the jonin in time to sling him on his back. Hinata, who was doing her best to calm the crown, ceased when Neji called her.

"Hinata-sama!"

She dropped what she was doing and followed after Neji who was already running to the village's hospital. As they ran, they were several shouts of astonishment as a figure escorted by four ANBU and one jonin leaped to the monster.

"Gai sensei!" Neji cried. Gai turned in mid leap and landed next to his former student.

"Neji?" he asked. Almost on cue, an explosion shook the ground and what appeared to be the Hokage arrived on the scene.

"Gai sensei, Kakashi sensei," Gai looked at the crumpled heap of his rival. _Oh right…Kakashi…almost forgot him. Wait, now's my chance! If I save my rival that has to be worth enough to put me ahead of Kakashi…YES! I'll do it! _Gai nodded and took the load of Neji, but not for any noble reason, "Don't worry I'll take care of Kakashi. You and your cousin get to the village's safety zones."

Gai leaped to a roof top and vanished from sight. Leaving both Neji and Hinata in the midst of the panicked crowd.

End Need to be Strong

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Cue Glued State: Ou97ivaJREY

In a manner of moments the medical nin found themselves overwhelmed as a stream of villagers stormed in with wounded civilians and shinobi begging that their loved ones be examined first. Of all the cases they had received that day, none could have been worse than the kunoichi who was dragged in by Yamanaka Ino. She claimed to have found her rival or friend, she had switched between both words, in this state at the training grounds.

The medical nins decided to attend to the kunoichi first. Their diagnosis; hemorrhaging throughout the body, she was in a coma like state, her left arm was bent in the opposite direction, snake bites decorated the whole of her person, internal bleeding, concussion to the head, broken jaw, pulled muscles, her right knee was broken and was bent so her foot and her hip were next to each other. They exchanged nervous glances while speculating who could have possibly been evil enough to do this to anyone, especially a twelve year-old kunoichi.

Several went to work on the kunoichi while the others were left to deal with the many incoming patients. What bothered many of the medical of the staff were the wounds. They came in mass and in somewhat disturbing injuries. The last time they had endured this type of situation, the Kyubi had decided to attack the village. A jounin was dragged in without his lower half. He was announced to have died minutes before entering the hospital. The day was only beginning.

End Glued State

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Cue Crisis After Another: v4QK-nbgah4

Kurenai and Asuma made contact with Kisame at the same time. Asuma used his trench knives to hit him across the face while Kurenai hit his legs causing him to fly forward into Asuma's knives. They thought they had finally gotten him when he vanished into water.

Kurenai and Asuma went back to back again. Kisame was proving more dangerous than described in the bingo book. Asuma was unsure of what Kisame would do next when he felt a sharp pain in his back. He turned to see Kurenai holding a knife half buried in his back.

"Kurenai?" he asked, hurt that she would do this. Then he saw it, her eyes weren't dark blue. He raised his trench knives and made to hit her when he felt a heavy weight drop itself on his shoulders. Behind him, Kisame had his sword on Asuma's shoulder. Kurenai, in a poof of smoke, revealed herself to be Kisame's mizu bunshin.

Kisame shaved off a chunk of Asuma's vest and he could feel his chakra go with it. _Dammit,_ he thought. He pushed away the mizu bunshin and the real Kisame and took a stance to defend himself from both.

Both the mizu bunshin, and Kisame took a swing at Asuma. Kisame's sword hit Asuma on his Adam's apple, while the mizu bunshin jabbed Asuma's back with two kunai. Asuma, in a poof of smoke, revealed himself to be a log, while Kisame's mizu bunshin vanished in a puddle of water.

End Crisis After Another

Cue Turn Over: XP6sZpXe6sw

"What?" Kisame stood in mind numbing confusion. He remembered that he and Itachi were trying to deal with both Itachi's brother and several shinobi, but everything after that was a blur. He then became aware of two unidentified chakra signatures which caused him to raise his guard.

Asuma and Kurenai appeared and continued their attack. Kisame moved his sword frantically to counter any attack made by Asuma, which gave Kurenai the time she needed to apply the genjutsu. Kisame relized this and ran straight for her, striking her straight in the stomach. She vanished in a poof of smoke and Kisame turned to confront Asuma.

The two locked heads in a standoff with their weapons. In the next instant, Kisame found himself neck deep in dirt. Asuma smirked, confident they had won until Kisame transformed into a puddle of water.

End Turn Over

He and Kurenai turned to find Kisame on top of a tree branch, "I don't know what just happened, but I'll be on my way."

He vanished in a poof of smoke. Or at least he tried.

Cue Shikamaru's Theme: v4nhKzlPliI

When the smoke cleared it became evident he was still standing there, wearing a look of shock, and jumped off. Kisame then walked slowly to the two of them and asked, "What's going on?"

Asuma couldn't help but notice Kisame's shadow went all the way past the two of them.

"Am I late?"

Both Kurenai and Asuma turned to see a middle-aged man with his hair fashioned like a pineapple. There was a long scar over his right eye. The glazed look in his eyes suggested he had just woken up from a nap.

"When did you get here Shikaku?" Asuma asked first. Shikaku shrugged, it wasn't normally his style to do anything that caused too much work for him. He made an exception in this case, "Three of my deer got loose. I went to find them, but it became too much of a bother so I took a nap."

The man yawned and rubbed his eye, "You three make so much noise."

"Well, thanks anyway," Asuma nodded to Kurenai, who bound Kisame in ropes and handed his sword to Asuma. The four then started heading back for Konoha. Kisame, sadly, had to walk backwards since Shikaku knew he would try to run if the Kagemane no Jutsu was released.

End Shikamaru's Theme

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Cue Nine Tailed Demon Fox: KCyZrf89gz4

Sasuke had no idea what it was he did wrong, all he knew was he was before the monstruous fox again.

"There's been a change in plans," he…she…it announced. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"I can feel another chakra presence. It would be in our best interest to eliminate it before it can do any further damage."

"Our best interest?"

"Do you want to get out of this hell hole?"

"What's it to you."

"Well would you like to live long enough to kill your brother and avenge your clan?"

"…"

"Well?"

"How did you know that?"

"I know alot about you, Uchiha Sasuke. Do you wish to avenge your clan?"

"...Yes."

"Then how do you suppose we do that if this chakra presence is allowed to roam freely unchecked?"

"Why didn't you just kill him?"

"I would, if I were not confined in this cage."

"It must be terrible to be you."

"Indeed," the air became tense in the room, "I'm placing it on your shoulders to kill him. Can I trust you?"

There was a moment's silence. Sasuke had been pondering who the fox was and more importantly, why its presence struck several chords of fear in him.

"Answer me subordinate!"

"I am no one's subordinate," Sasuke grew bold at the fox in this instant. It was a mistake.

"YOU DARE TO SP**EAK TO KYUBI IN SUCH A MANNER! I, THE _DEMON LORD WHO ALMOST DESTROYED YOUR PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A VILLAGE!"_**

Sasuke flinched. So this was the demon fox that almost wiped out Konoha. Despite being behind the bars his killer intent spoke enough. Still, Sasuke had to enjoy the irony, _Oh how the mighty have fallen. _It was at this moment that a second thought crossed his mind; _If this is Naruto's mind…then…what…_He tried to piece the information together.

**_"DO NOT THINK YOUR MISERABLE LIFE OR CONCERNS ARE OF ANY MATTER TO ME. IF YOU CROSS ME, I WILL KILL YOU. NOW DO AS YOU ARE TOLD."_**

Without further argument, Sasuke made a break for the door. Before he could, the red chakra of the kyubi blocked the door.

**_"YOU RATS ARE SO AMUSING UNDER THE CORRECT CIRCUMSTANCES. YOUR TARGET IS NEAR HERE, I AM SURE YOU CAN FEEL HIS PRESENCE BY NOW. PREVENT HIM FROM CAUSING ANY DAMAGE TO THIS VESSEL. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU CONSIDER USING YOUR CHIDORI. DAMAGE ANY MORE OF THIS BOY'S MIND AND YOU WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCE."_**

Sasuke felt a sense of dread overpower him. Why was he afraid. If he wanted to kill his brother he couldn't afford to be afraid. Then why was he afraid? Maybe it was the demonic fox staring him down. Perhaps it was the sense of dread of not being able to escape. Why? After Sasuke composed himself, Kyubi released his hold on the door and allowed Sasuke to run out.

End Nine Tailed Demon Fox

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A Note from Leonardo1123581321: That poor, poor fox. Also by the time you've read this, I'll probably have watched the first two Naruto Shippuden Episodes. Wee! If your youtube window is still open, you might be able to find it.


	15. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto anime or manga, but the Nentuoinai no Sato and any characters from said village, is my idea and belongs to none else.

**Pre-Author's Note**: I apologize for not getting back on the weekly update, shortly after posting the previous chapter a certain series of unfortunate events took place (Not the books or movie!). Said events led to writer's block, and multiple distractions. Anyway, lyrics for this chapter taken from Naruto Ending 5 and so on… blame whoever you want about the grammar. Without further interruptions enjoy the next chapter to the Nentuoinai no Sato.

**The Village Hidden by the Mind**

**(Nentuoinai No Sato)**

There must have been a lot of things you had to deal with  
You were crying in your heart, right?  
You can't give up on that dream you've chosen right?  
You might just have a supporting role…  
And you might just be a person who stands in another's shadow.  
When you face off with your dream…yeah yeah yeah yeah  
Let him stay inside it and let him be honest with himself  
You've done this many times  
You never gave up  
You've done this many times  
You've stood up many times  
You've done this many times  
We…many times…believed…  
Many times and dreamed...  
Many times…believed…  
You've done this many times  
You've done a lot of stupid things…  
Many times…  
You've stood in another person's shadow many times  
Yes, you're playing the main role now  
Please let us dream of whatever we want.

**Chapter 14**

Fear. Gaara had never shown his fear to anyone, not even to his father the Kazekage. Fear of never being able to be loved, fear of never knowing this love, whatever it was. Fear of being killed, Fear of death. Fear in its entirety. He hadn't betrayed Sunagakure no Sato, it had betrayed him. They hated him for his father's mistake. Why should he take the blame for what his father did. Gaara had gone willingly with the Nentuo shinobi because he knew he was going to a new home. He would have a fresh start. There, he might meet people who liked him. It had never occurred to Gaara that the hope of being loved was a false hope. In fact, he would never make it to the Nentuo. Had he known that this was a trap by his father he would never had come. He ran, but never how far he went, he couldn't escape the looming shadow of his father or the shinobi who had come to kill him his whole life.

"You killed her!" he accused, pointing at him, "She was your mother, and you killed her!"

"Shut up!"

"It's all your fault!"

"SHUT UP!"

The sand which had always come to Gaara's aid crushed the body of the Kazekage. Despite this, his cold laugh loomed throughout the infinitely black void. The sand crushed the direction from which the laughter came from, but he still wouldn't stop laughing. His cold laughter chilled every drop of blood in Gaara's veins. Then he felt a pain. A sharp, mind numbing pain of his forehead. Someone had hit him.

"Aww! Come on! I just got out!" A familiar voice cried out. He knew that voice, it had whispered in his ear so many times before.

"Mother?"

"Sorry kid, wrong person," another voice said, this one foreign to Gaara. As Gaara tried to figure out who it was, he felt himself drift into darkness.

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Anra smiled triumphantly. It had worked. Rekiru managed to distract the biju long enough for Higama to smack the jinchuriki straight in the forehead. She looked back over her shoulder. From the rooftop she could see Konoha's ANBU and several shinobi caught in a fierce battle with several smaller versions of the biju. The mini biju, about the size of Higama, had been created a little while before Anra, Higama and Rekiru decided to make their move.

The Konoha shinobi fought furiously, but they held an advantage over the mini-Shukaku. One hundred Konoha shinobi were worth one of the mini-Shukaku in terms of brute strength. Fortunately, the mini-Shukaku were dependant on the real one and attacked mindlessly around them.

Several of the ninja surrounded one which wandered around aimlessly. They hit it with a fire jutsu to turn it to glass, then smashed it into pieces. Another had caught the same ninja off guard and crushed two of them in sand before the others could take it down.

_So much for avoid casualties,_ Anra thought.

"Captain! Orders?" Rekiru cried below as he successfully turned two mini-Shukaku on each other.

"Let's get out of here before those guys see us," she said. Higama arrived at that moment with the jinchuriki under his arm.

"Can we go now? I don't want to die before I get back home," he said.

"Did you remember to put the seal on him?" Rekiru asked.

"Yeah," Higama raised the jinchuriki's head. On his forehead was a strange symbol similar to yin-yang. Anra nodded. They turned to leave but were cut off when three shinobi appeared in front of them; The Hokage and two ANBU, one with a frog mask and the other with a monkey mask.

"What is this…some kind of joke?" The hokage asked, referencing the symbol on their forehead protector.

"They could be posing as Nentuo," one of the ANBU declared. The Hokage took a stance, as did the two flanking ANBU. Rekiru looked at Anra who looked at Higama, "Well?"

"I vote we scare the hell out of them," Higama said, forming a hand sign with his free hand. In all of Sarutobi's years as hokage, he had never seen anything like this. People often posed as Nentuo shinobi. Many of them were con artists of some sort, others could never be explained. But this man was something else.

"Osore Genkaku no Jutsu!" Higama declared **(Vision of Fear Technique)**. The Hokage couldn't make heads or tails of what the jutsu did. The ground beneath began to shake as the Biju reformed itself off to the side. It let out a scream, "I'm back! And I'm better than ever!"

Sarutobi immediately felt the presence of a genjutsu. He made the hand sign to release it, but nothing happened. The Biju began to lay waste to the village around it. The village was going up in flames and there was nothing which could be done.

"What is the meaning of this?" The Hokage demanded. Higama smirked.

"Hokage-sama, what's wrong?" the monkey masked ANBU asked. The Hokage ordered, "Deal with the biju you two!"

Both of the ANBU looked at the sand which was once the Shukaku. They looked back at him and asked, "What Biju?"

Sarutobi immediately realized what was going on, "There is no biju is there?"

"They catch on quick, don't you think Rekiru?" Higama asked. Rekiru didn't return an answer. Instead he made his own hand signs and disappeared.

The ANBU had caught on by then and made hand signs. Like Sarutobi, nothing had happened. The two ANBU exchanged puzzled glances before the monkey masked ANBU felt a sharp blow to his face.

"What just happened?" he screamed.

"It's just as I thought, they are ninja of the Nentuo," he stated. The ANBU gave him a confused look from behind their masks, "You can't be serious Hokage-sama!"

"Listen carefully to what I'm going to tell you," Sarutobi said, "We can't do anything to release their genjutsu so you'll need to start relying on your other senses."

"What was that Hokage-sama?" The ANBU asked.

"Rely on your other senses, listen for their movements," he said again.

"What did you do to him!" the frog masked ANBU demanded. The old man gave the two ANBU puzzled looks.

"Kage Mimi no Jutsu, **(Shadow of the Ear)** we muted the old fart," Anra smiled at them cunningly, "He talks too much anyway."

The frog-masked ANBU, in aggravation, drew a kunai and flung himself at Anra. Anra was caught off guard and both found themselves falling off the roof of the building. Rekiru, still invisible, grabbed her arm last minute leaving the other ANBU to tumble several feet below before grabbing onto a window ledge. Rekiru dragged his Captain up and turned to punch the other ANBU. The monkey-masked ninja, unable to defend himself, ended up playing a one-sided game of cat and mouse with Rekiru.

Anra and Higama took this chance to circle the old man in front of them. Higama repositioned the unconscious jinchuriki so he could better defend himself. He sized up the old man, _Are we really so low we're going to hit an old man? _Sarutobi had already made the first move and turned the tiles beneath Higama's feet turn to mud…a sinkhole of mud. Higama, with the weight of his sword, the jinchuriki and the rest of his possessions, began sinking like a rock..

"Captain, catch!" he said, throwing Gaara's limp form beforing disappearing beneath the mud. Anra, caught the boy and left him under her arm. Behind her, the fatal flaw in Rekiru's genjutsu was exposed and he found himself on the other end of the cat and mouse game. In this blink second of distraction, the Hokage had paralyzed Anra's feet without her knowledge. When she realized it, it was too late and she was unable to move when the frog masked ninja landed next to her. Cold, deadly metal plunged itself into Anra's back, "Dammit!"

The ANBU pushed the kunai harder into her back until she dropped Gaara. At this point, he let go of the kunai and grabbed Gaara.

"Look out!" someone said. The frog masked ANBU turned just in time to see a fist coming his way. Not Higama's fist, Anra's fist or Rekiru's fist, but the monkey masked ANBU's fist. There was a crunch when fist collided with face.

Frog mask dropped Gaara, and as if by magic, the boy started floating above the roof tiles. Although his arms and legs still chose to sag downward. The Hokage kicked the air to the left side of Gaara's body. There was a disbodied groan as Gaara fell on the roof. Sarutobi looked at the other two ANBU, Frog mask was rubbing his cheek and monkey mask kept apologizing while drawing kunai. The two of them then approached the still frozen Anra, "I guess they were faking, what do you think Hokage-sama?"

The Hokage said something inaudible, with a look of terror on his face. He pointed behind the two ANBU. From behind, both were cut in half by Higama, or so he thought. The two ANBU melted into statues of mud. Higama, annoyed felt the chakra of several more ANBU coming in their direction.

He made a quick hand sign which released Anra from her paralysis. Rekiru lay unconscious a few feet away, dangling near the edge of the roof. Higama picked the short man up, "Rekiru?"

Rekiru groaned in response. The guy was never really good at taking hits. Higama put the limp man over his shoulder then faced the Hokage and ANBU. Behind the three Konoha shinobi were three new ANBU, one with a parrot mask, another in a fox mask and the last in a shark mask. Anra pulled the kunai out of her back and got on her feet.

"Captain," he muttered to the female leader, "This is getting out of hand. We're going to have to run."

"Right," she nodded. She and Higama made quick hand signs.

"Where'd they go?" the parrot masked ANBU asked. The monkey masked ANBU answered, "Calm down, we can't see them. But their shadows are still on the ground!"

"Gotcha," said the shark masked ANBU. He drew a katana from nowhere and took a swing at Higama, failing to realize he was swinging to far to the left. Higama elbowed the man in the chin and ran to Gaara, who still lay forgotten to the side of the roof. He made the necessary hand signs and touched Gaara on the eyes.

Now with two limp people under his arms he found it harder to avoid the fox masked ANBU, who took several jabs at him with a spear. Realizing their degrading situation, he yelled, "Captain, take these two and go!"

"Are you insane?" Anra yelled back, "This is no time for any of that macho crap!"

"We're seriously outnumbered here," he explained, narrowly avoiding two kunai and using Rekiru's limp legs to hit the toad masked ANBU, "You need to treat that wound, Rekiru's out of commission, and this kid is just a dead weight."

"What's your point?"

"Imagine what the Omoikage will do when he finds out we failed our mission."

Anra, realizing the gravity of their situation, understood what Higama was trying to say and relieved the man of the two limp bodies. With this, she turned and ran leaving Higama to his decided fate. Higama, released the Kage Manako to conserve chakra.

"You two, go after the runner," the frog masked ANBU ordered. Parrot mask and shark mask nodded, turning to go after the fleeing woman.

"Oh no, you don't!" Higama said, quickly forming hand signs, "Itami heki no jutsu!" **(False Pain)**

Before the two pursuers got to the next roof, they cringed in pain and let out ear deafening screams. They slipped as they landed on the tiles of the next building and fell to the ground, still screaming pain. Higama drew his sword to make the next move, but stopped when he realized there was a kunai to his back, another to his throat, one above his leg and katana pointed at his chest. The remaining ANBU and the Hokage had him in a corner.

"I don't know what you're trying to pull," Sarutobi started, "but if it concerns the Biju, the tailed beasts, then we'll just have to stop you."

Higama cursed and dropped his sword. The ANBU behind him said, "Good night."

Then there was the bliss of darkness.

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"I don't know what made you think that would work," Itachi said to what was formerly his brother. Itachi held the boy by throat against a tree, "I'm tired of your games as well. I should have killed you when I had the chance."

Sasuke, or rather Orochimaru in Sasuke's body, licked his lips, "But you wouldn't kill the last of your clan would you?"

Itachi raised a kunai to his chin, "I've killed before. Besides which, would anyone actually miss you?"

"Oh my, you fail to understand my true intentions Itachi. You see you've grown soft, too soft. You have the ability to become a king amidst shinobi yet you choose to grovel at the feet of someone else."

Itachi tightened his grip around Sasuke…Orochimaru's neck.

"Temper, temper. If you're not careful you may kill your brother's only chance left to live."

Itachi was silent. Orochimaru continued, "You tell me you would willingly kill your brother's body, yet I still draw breathe. I've seen your mind Itachi, you didn't kill your brother because you wanted someone alive to continue the Uchiha legacy. Well had your little Sasuke stayed in his body, he would never have carried on the Uchiha name. He has no other interest than killing you in vengeance. I'm just sorry I had to end his life before he could end yours."

"You're sick," Itachi told him. Orochimaru went on, "Have I hit a nerve? Are you finally feeling guilty? What a shame."

"Such a young dream, gone out like a fire in the cold winter's night; I wonder what happens after death. I personally don't know nor will I ever know because I don't plan to die.

Itachi activated the mangyekou. Orochimaru, in this case Sasuke, chuckled, "That won't work anymore. Our little friends in the Nentuo taught me some new tricks."

"You're bluffing," Itachi declared. At this moment, Itachi realized he and Orochimaru had switched positions. Or in this case, bodies. Itachi (Sasuke)'s, eyes widened in horror as Orochimaru, now in Itachi's body, tightened his grip. Orochimaru (Itachi) excitedly said, "This is one of them. Tell me, are you scared? Are you terrified?"

Itachi (Sasuke) whoever was silent. Orochimaru (Itachi) went on, "I'll never know what death is like. So I can't tell you what it's like to have the life run out of your veins nor will I be able too. But as the saying goes, the best way to learn is from experience."

Orochimaru (Itachi) stabbed Itachi (Sasuke) multiple times in the chest, throat, and head. Blood trickled down the tree bark, staining it an ugly brown. The boy slid down, the light leaving his eyes. Itachi cursed one more time as he watched the mind of mad man walk away in his body.

Then he felt the cold rush over him, his body growing cold with each passing second. The darkness overcame him. A light glowed in the distance, red and brimming with hate. Itachi walked towards it, expecting to find the shinigami waiting at the end. Itachi prepared himself for whatever doom he had surely ammounted for himself in his life.

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A panicked blonde in an orange jumpsuit banged wildly on the door, "Somebody! Anybody let me out!"

Had he known who was one the other side he would have rephrased his statement to, "Someone friendly let me out!"

This was not the case though. After being locked in a small room with no hope of freedom for what seemed like hours, he had grown desperate for any form of aid. Anything to get him out of this cursed room which seemed to be shrinking by the second. A lock clicked; someone on the other side had opened the door. The wooden frame of the door creaked open.

It had barely made a crack before the boy found himself running out. The hallway outside was dark and dank, a foul stench hanging in the air. Although he had never been here before, it had a strangely familiar essence to it. A pipe lining the ceiling was broken, flooding the floor with water. On the other side of the door was a man clad in a black jump suit with a gray vest. His green hair was long and tied back into a pony tail. The man raised his arm, as if readying to kill the boy. The blonde panicked, and turned to run. Unfortunately, the man had grabbed the boy by the collar of his jumpsuit.

"Out of my way!" someone yelled. The buzz of birds chirping filled the air, followed by the crunching of stone and wood. The blonde turned around to see another boy. He wore a black shirt, white shorts and had unkempt dark hair. His eyes glowed a dangerous blood red and in his claw like hands was a blue, almost electric ball of energy.

The boy put the ball against the wall and dashed towards the green haired man, "I said out of my way!"

He came within a foot of the man and moved his arm forward, thrusting the ball of energy into the man's face. The ball came within an inch before something knocked it to the floor. It sent water flying into the air, wetting all three of them.

"A little lost, aren't you boy?" the man said. The blonde's eyes widened. The man laughed, letting go of the blonde's collar.

"I'll put you out of your misery," the man said as a buster sword appeared in his hand. The red eyed boy, seeing the large sword, jumped several feet and made several hand signs, "Hosenka no Jutsu!" **(Pheonix Immortal Fire)**

Fire balls shot from his mouth and impacted around the man. Steam rose where fire met water, preventing the two opponents from seeing each other. To the red eyed boy's surprise, the man charged him. The boy ducked, narrowly avoiding two swipes of the blade while a third hit the hair on the side of his head. The boy grew impatient and made more handsigns, "Gokyaku no Jutsu!" **(Great Fireball)**

In the midst of the battle, the blonde chose to find a place to hide. Ironically, he chose the room he had fought so hard to escape. The other boy took a deep breath and exhaled fire on the man. The fire scorched his skin and he vanished in a poof of smoke. The boy cursed, "A Bunshin."

Another man appeared from behind the steam. The boy drew several shuriken and threw them at an opening in the man's stance. One of the shuriken planted itself in his leg, forcing him to fall face down onto the floor. The boy realized this wasn't a bunshin and created the ball of energy again. Before the man could recover, the boy sent it straight through the man's chest.

The man's body sagged before it fell to the side. The red eyed boy then turned to the room the blonde ran into. He opened it to find the blonde in the corner, cursing at his bad luck.

"Who are you? What do you want?" the blonde inquired. The latter answered, "I am Sasuke Uchiha, and I want out of your miserable head."

The blonde had absolutely no time to understand Sasuke's words, mostly because Sasuke grabbed him by the ear and started pulling him. Where to? Why to a giant cage holding back the figure of a giant fox bearing a sinister yet calm grin. Waiting there were two others. The first was a small child similar in appearance to the blonde running around in circles with his arms flailing to the side like a bird while shouting in joy, "Wee!"

The other is a man in a black cloak, who is observing the child with amusement at said child's infinite ignorance of his general surroundings. The man considered whether or not to tell the child he could kill him but decided against ruining the child's fun. He bore a strong resemblance to Sasuke, specifically with his red eyes.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked the kid. The kid looked up and said, "Hey! Guess what! Guess what! We have a new friend!"

He pointed excitedly to the man. Sasuke glanced over and let go of the blonde. Sasuke's face seemed to twist in a mix of confusion and rage.

"You!" Sasuke roared. He charged towards the man, fist charging another chidori.


	16. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto anime or manga, but the Nentuoinai no Sato and any characters from said village, is my idea and belongs to none else.

**Author's Note:** Wow. This story is now ONE YEAR OLD! I'd get a cake, but I doubt an abstract concept which exists in cyber space could consume it. Let alone send it to hundreds of people over the internet. You know the drill, lyrics from Naruto ending 9 and all that stuff…Enjoy. Blame grammar errors on the Nentuo shinobi.

**The Village Hidden by the Mind**

**(Nentuoinai No Sato)**

One by one as I look back at my memories  
I thought I knew everything  
but I was a fool  
Faded words  
were left right by my side  
Nights without answers…  
A small piece of warmth…  
Longing from afar…  
We just kept repeating this cycle…  
That's why I am alive  
Whatever can be measured in these hands  
Droplets of time  
Softly grasp them  
Forgotten memories  
Lost Words  
Yeah…  
Yeah…  
Yeah…  
Yeah…  
These thoughts are…

**Chapter 15**

24 hours after the Biju Incident…

"Has he talked?" Sarutobi asked Anko. Anko was half awake and half asleep. She was also slightly…er, kind of annoyed. Her hair was in disarray, mostly because she had been awoken in the middle of the night to help interrogate the new prisoner. She absent mindedly shook her head, "Not much."

"How's Ibiki?"

"Still crying," she said casting her gaze to the door behind her. They were in the Hokage's office, or rather what was left of it. A rogue kunai with an exploding tag attached had landed right on the window. The Hokage's grandson was in the room at the time when the tag went off. He and many others are being hospitalized. The damage caused by the kunai had destroyed several important documents ranging from mission requests to treaties and alliance proposals. Those that had survived were to burnt to read or were blown away with the wind. Sarutobi sat behind his desk, grabbing paperwork as a breeze blew in. Anko looked up at the seemingly calm sky to see the sun was already half way done with its arc in the sky.

"To be able to make our best interrogators have emotional break downs," Sarutobi said. He hated to admit it but this man seemed to be the real deal. He is, for all intents and purposes, a real Nentuo shinobi, "What did we get from him?"

"So far he says his name is Seymour Arses," she informed the Hokage. The old man looked at her with disgust, "Watch your language Anko. That was completely inappropriate."

Anko gave him an inquisitive look, "It's right here."

She handed him a paper which the old man scanned quickly. It was filled with various obscenities which were almost laughable. His birth date was written as 4-5-5 and was written to almost resemble ASS. The Hokage cast the paper aside and muttered something about smoking all of his tobacco the other day. Anko rolled her eyes and was about to open her mouth to say something when someone interrupted her.

"You need to get over your addiction sensei."

Sarutobi turned around, Anko looked up. Standing on what was left of one of the windows was a middle-aged man with long, spiky, white hair. Part of his hair was tied in a ponytail which went all the way down to his legs. On his forehead protector was the kanji for oil. Sarutobi laughed, "Only when you stop your perverted habits Jiraiya."

Jiraiya laughed and jumped down to the floor, "Old habits die hard sensei. You know that better than anyone."

"I know you've been here for a few days. How come you didn't help when the biju attacked?"

"Oh well…I was doing…um…research?" he answered. Anko butt in, "That's your pitiful excuse?"

Jiraiya scratched his nose. The truth was he had spent the afternoon at one of the many "gentlemen" clubs scattered around Konoha. There, he consumed too much alcohol and passed out. Oddly, he slept through the whole battle and had awoken only when the chaos had subsided. Putting this aside, he scrambled for a reasonable excuse, "My…I…research is more important?"

Anko muttered something about fulfilling one's perverted desires not being research. Sarutobi coughed at these words; he was a bit perverted himself, "Either way. Anko, do we have any confirmation about Team 7?"

"No, Kisame is as disoriented as we are, so we're not going to get news about Uchiha Itachi or Uchiha Sasuke. He acts like he as no clue what's going on but we'll get him to crack. As for Haruno Sakura, she's been stabilized but is in no condition to return to missions anytime soon. The medic nin insist on observing her for the next few days. Finally, Kakashi is out like a lamp. The medic nin suspect he may be in a coma caused by some level of emotional or psychological trauma."

Sarutobi nodded, "Okay, go mark Team 7 out of commission."

"I was going to do that sir," Anko started. She fetched a book from within her coat and handed it to the old man. There was a marked page which the Hokage opened to, "but then I saw this."

She pointed to a third name listed under the team's genin: Uzumaki Naruto. Next to his name was a note: _Remind Kakashi to handle with caution, child is subject to be target of known enemy organizations and villages as the jinchuriki of Kyubi no Yoko. To be kept emotionally, physically, and mentally stable at all times._ The name was missing a photo as opposed to the other genin. The gears in Sarutobi's old mind turned, "A biju attack, a shinobi from the Nentuo and an unmarked genin/jinchuriki…Are there any records on him?"

"No," Anko answered, "I checked. There's an empty one labeled Arashi, but that's it."

Sarutobi looked up at the words Arashi, "The Fourth?"

"Yes," Anko said. There was silence between all three for a few minutes before Jiraiya peered over Sarutobi's shoulder and asked, "You aren't talking about Naruto are you?"

"That's what it says here," Sarutobi answered him. Jiraiya thought to himself, _Looks like someone beat Itachi and Kisame._

"Could you bring in Neji and Hinata Hyuga, Anko?" Sarutobi asked. Anko raised an eyebrow, "Lord Hokage, you don't think…"

"It would seem Hinata and Neji or the entire Hyuga clan is acting against us. I want no potential threat overlooked. No doubt someone will try to rescue that man so double our security measures. No one sees this man without my approval."

"But sir…the Hyuga clan wouldn't…"

"I'm afraid the situation will get out of our hands if we don't take necessary precautions. With the Shukaku's attack and the new prisoner…"

"Sir?" Anko asked.

"Put it this way," someone said, "We stumbled into a cave of hungry wolves. Now we're holding one by the ears and the rest have the ability to turn invisible."

Anko wheeled around to see a female ANBU had just entered the room. She was adorned in standard ANBU uniform, black and gray armor concealed beneath a black cowl. The hood was down, revealing long brunette hair which had a curious shade of purple to it. Sarutobi recognized her, "What is it, Yugao?"

There was silence. Even though she wore a mask, it could not conceal her discomfort, "There was an attack at the Academy. Two students are wounded, another dead, and one teacher is in critical condition."

"Who are they?"

"Students Udon, Moegi, and Chunin Iruka. The dead student is named: Keitaro Nawaki."

"Those are Konohamaru's teacher and friends," The Hokage said. He folded his arms and leaned on his desk, "Who did it?"

"Three men dressed as ANBU. We cornered them in the training grounds, but they committed suicide before we could incapacitate them."

"Suicide?" Jiraiya asked. Anko shifted uncomfortably at the word.

"They swallowed a strange pill and stabbed themselves. They screamed something about honor with their last breath. The medic nin are looking over the bodies now to learn what they can."

The Hokage closed his eyes and sighed.

"I'm going to get the Hyugas," Anko said as she left the room, still bothered by their suicide. Sarutobi looked at Yugao, "Organize a search team of 10 ANBU divided into 2 squads. Fan out the nearby forest and see if you can find Sasuke or Itachi. Let me know if you find them."

Yugao saluted the old man and vanished into a puff of smoke. Sarutobi then turned to Jiraiya, "Do you know anything about Naruto?"

"Yeah, he's the carrier of the Kyubi, remember? It says it right there."

Jiraiya pointed to the small note Sarutobi had already read, "I mean, something new?"

"Well, you passed a law so that no one would mention his status as a jinchuriki. I also remember he annoyed the academy teachers with his barrage of pranks."

"Jiraiya, you got here yesterday, right?"

"Yeah."

Sarutobi thought it over, _So Jiraiya remembers. Then that means there was a large scale mind wipe when he wasn't here...Fortunately, someone was careless during the operation. _

"Jiraiya, could you get me the charts on Haruno Sakura and Hatake Kakashi. I want to know how quickly we can get them back in action."

Jiraiya nodded and left. Several minutes passed, during which the old man took off his formal hokage hat. The day's heat was unbearable, and he wondered to himself the intelligence in wearing a thick robe on such a day.

He fanned himself with the hat, wishing the explosion had not damaged the wiring in his office. The lack of electricity shut down the cooler, leaving the old man to endure this unforgivable heat. While he fanned himself, the thought occurred to him that the Nentuo's infiltration may have gone as high as the Village Council. NO! He couldn't let paranoia win him over at a time like this. He had to remain calm. Another breeze blew by and, while he welcomed the cool breeze, his paperwork was scattered around the office while other papers blew away. The old man sighed, truly wishing he hadn't used all of his tobacco yesterday. He looked up that moment as both Neji and Hinata Hyuga walked in, Anko behind them. Not to his surprise, they were escorted by three ANBU in black cowls.

"Sit down," Anko said. Or perhaps it was an order, her tone of voice made it difficult to tell. The two Hyuga's took their seats in front of the Hokage, who gazed at them with a calculating interest. Several moments of silenced passed, Sarutobi was trying to word his question right. If they were spies, they would catch on if he said the wrong thing. If they weren't, they might receive the wrong impression.

Hinata sat quietly, shifting uneasily in the seat. Perhaps it was more her timidity causing her to do so. She glanced at the Hokage's desk to see the book of Jonin her cousin was skimming through a few days earlier. She gulped and put her hands in her coat pocket. She held the photo she had taken from the book in her pocket, shuddering at the thought of what they would do if they found out.

"Hinata," The old man started, picking his words carefully, "I called you and your cousin here on account of the break in at the village's records."

Hinata tightened her grip on the photo, _they've found out._

"I wish to know why you decided to break in."

There was an awkward silence. She could answer, but her timidity had gotten the better of her. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She could tell them because of a boy no one else seemed to remember, but that wouldn't pass with a Hokage, a jonin and several ANBU. After all, she and Sakura seemed to be the only ones who could remember her existance. Her palm began to sweat, so she took it out of her pocket for fear of destroying the photo, "It was…um…because…"

She gulped again, "There…was…this…"

"She did it because of a boy," Neji said in straightforward manner. Everyone looked at him. Hinata had really wished he didn't do that, she felt herself go a little red.

"A boy?" The Hokage looked at him suspiciously.

"Some boy in Team 7," he said.

"Uchiha Sasuke?" Anko inquired. Sarutobi rolled his eyes, _Why not? He already has girls throwing themselves at his feet. Why not have them start committing crimes? I wonder how many let him violate their person._

"No, another boy," he shot back, "Uzumaki Naruto, I think."

The Old man looked at both the Hyugas, "Is that all?"

"Ye…Yes," Hinata stuttered. To her dismay, her face had turned several shades of red, more from embarrassment of the reason than needing Neji to answer for her.

"Okay then," Sarutobi looked at the ANBU, "Please return them to active duty."

"Duty?" Neji asked.

"I'm reinstating you as genin," The old man. The two Hyuga's looked at the old man hope. Neji with a sense of pride, Hinata with uncertain happiness. The old man looked at the ANBU, "Remove the seals and give them their headbands back."

The ANBU nodded, and left with the Hyuga children. Anko gave Sarutobi an inquisitive look, "What just happened?"

"Ever hear the saying; 'True love conquers all'?" Sarutobi said in a half joking, half serious matter. He chuckled at his own words, "Call it an old man's foolish intuition, but I believe another power beyond our understanding had a hand in her immunity."

"Immunity?"

"She broke in because of a boy none of us could remember. Naturally, I think she shared a bond with this," he glanced at the book again, "Naruto. That might not be the reason but some reason she seemed to be able to remember his existance."

Anko looked at him with a surprised look. She pointed her thumb out the door, towards Hinata, and asked "You don't actually think…"

Sarutobi nodded, "The mind is complex, Anko. They say it ties the heart, body, and soul into one. Call it a coincidence, an anomaly, or the mind just acting on its own accord. Something else is at work here. Something neither of us could have foreseen."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Nentuoinai Base of Operations…

The Nibankage entered the room. All nine shinobi stood at attention as he entered, "All memories converted?"

"Yes. We had double time on 1 but we finished it on schedule."

"Good. Is 9 in a coma?" he asked. The lead shinobi nodded. He smiled with satisfaction. He stepped towards the cage at the end, "Good. Make preparations to move them to th-"

He was cut short but a sudden sense of bloodlust. The lights flickered for a second, only a second. During the brief moments of darkness, he swore he saw a pair of glowing red eyes stared at him.

When the lights stopped flickering, the Nibankage took note that the cage at the end of the room had been opened. Its captive stood in front of the opened cave, head beaming down to the floor. His very being released a strong aura of chaos, bloodlust and corruption. The old man noted the boy's hair had become messier, his whisker-like birthmarks more feral, and his teeth and hands more animal like.

The nine shinobi guards formed a line in front of the nibankage, to protect him from any threat the escapee may pose. The Nibankage entertained the thought of the Kyubi gaining control over the boy, but it was just man's foolish dreams.

The boy raised his head, and looked straight forward at the ten men. The boy opened his eyes. The wild eyes of a madman turned feral as an animal stared at the formation. Two coma like dots swirled around the snake like pupil of the left eye. The right eye was slit like, but looked like a misshapen shuriken with three blades. The Nibankage had gained more than he could have ever dreamed for. He smiled at the thought of having the sharingan and the kyubi in one package.

The boy glanced up towards the man in the middle of the line. He stuck his arm out as if to point at him. The man lost his nerve with each passing second. The boy's palm was up and created a electric ball of red chakra. It created loud chirping noises and filled the room with anguish. The chirping noise was replaced by a loud screeching noise which deafened all in the room.

"Ready to play?" the boy asked. The smile disappeared from the Nibankage's face. The boy pushed the ball towards the wall; It began to age until it was little more than dust that had gathered at the floor. All in the room heard one thing before the screech of the ball silenced them forever, "Chinaraku." **(The Thousand Hells)**


	17. Chapter 16 Arc 4: Revelations and Repara

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto anime or manga, but the Nentuoinai no Sato and any characters from said village, is my idea and belongs to none else. Lyrics taken from Naruto Ending 12, otherwise known as Parade by Chaba.

**Pre-Author's Notes:** Last two reviews by an anonymous person and Kage Kui stated they were confused with the story. The irony? I am just as confused as the next guy and I'm writing this story. How sad is that? But I'm not here to win over anyone's pity or make excuses. I'm here to write the next chapter for the Nentuoinai no Sato.

I'd like to congratulate anyone who has actually kept up with the story and understands what's going on. Kudos to you guys, and thanks for sticking with the story from the start.

As a last note: This is the start of the Revelations and Reparations Arc.

**The Village Hidden by the Mind**

**(Nentuoinai No Sato)**

As the wind blows these painful memories won't disappear.  
What were you thinking when you gathered the old songs into one?  
There is no second chance  
there is no second chance  
to throw it away. I'm such a fool  
the image of becoming innocent.  
This definitely won't end.  
This definitely won't end.  
Burn this heart of love  
And cross a thousand dreams  
Run about as you please  
And seize the world as you please  
The clouds scatter  
And the sun sets again  
This one-man parade starts to move  
Adventures  
Lucky Days  
Heart Rate  
Climbing  
Light and Darkness  
Encounters  
Life  
Mutual Love

**Revelations and Reparations Arc**

**Chapter 16**

Red chakra held Sasuke in his place against the wall. He cursed himself for falling for the demon's plan. It had never intended to keep true its promise. Its plan was to use Naruto to its advantage, to bring it as close to freedom as possible. He looked in front of him, where Naruto stood like a doll left on its stand. He was supported entirely by the Kyubi's red chakra, which creeped into his ear like a worm.

The very same chakra had been used to suspend himself and Itachi at opposite sides of the room. Itachi hung there silently observing the situation, as if planning to make his next move. Sasuke, on the other hand, was struggling violently against the chakra to get free. The harder he fought the tighter it squeezed him.

Naivety was still acting childish. He flailed his arms madly like a new born bird trying to fly. Itachi watched this with calculating look. Naivety hopped into the air every chance he could while running around Naruto, in a dizzying circle.

"Kid," Itachi said, "Would you lik-"

He was cut short when the Kyubi's chakra wrapped itself around his mouth, "**You have no need to speak**."

Itachi cursed at his luck, or rather he tried. The Kyubi looked at him sinsterly, "**I have no clue to how you entered the domain of this boy's mind. However, you have proven more than useful.**"

The fox's smile widened, reminding Sasuke of a picture of the Shinigami. A look of content crossed his face as he pulled his chakra away from Naruto, letting his limp form sag to the ground before it disappeared. Afterwards he let go of both Uchihas and used his chakra to amuse Naivety, who was now skipping whole heartedly around the room.

Itachi eyed the Kyubi, as if trying to figure out its motive and plan his countering move. There was a quiet tension which ended when Sasuke began to charge another chidori. Itachi realized this and activated the mangekyou sharingan. Before either could move the Kyubi's chakra, which Naivety had used as a jump rope, split into two and pinned them against the wall again.

"Let me go!" Sasuke roared. He glared at Itachi, who gladly returned it. Naivety took this moment to taunt the two, "You're in trouble! You're in trouble!"

"**You two can kill each other later. For now, you're cooperation is required**," the fox demon declared. Itachi squinted, "And why would we help you? After what you did."

"**You want to live don't you**?"

"…"

Sasuke powered down his chidori and Kyubi let him go. Naivety began to play with the red chakra again, this time trying to shape it in his hands.

"Why do you do that?" Itachi asked, "Why do you, considered a king among demons, bother yourself with…him."

Itachi gestured to Naivety who had shaped the chakra like a castle.

"**I believe in something called**, **guilt**. **You probably have no idea what it is**. **After all**, **you killed your entire clan**."

"So you feel sorry for him then."

"**You're confusing guilt with pity**. **Naivety as Sasuke calls him is younger than both of you**'**re inner Naivety**. **Would you like to see them**?"

As he said this, two people faded into existence right next to Naivety. The smaller of the two resembled Sasuke, if he were several years younger, but still much older than Naruto's Naivety. This Sasuke is about the same age as Sasuke when the Uchiha massacre happened. Itachi's Naivety was the oldest of the three, having been allowed a near normal lifestyle.

"Ooh, you're a big fox," the little Sasuke declared to Kyubi. The two younger Uchihas then faded out of existence. Naivety burst into a fit of giggles, "They were funny looking ghosts. I liked the one with dark hair."

He rolled over in laughter while Kyubi, Sasuke, and Itachi tried to determine which of the two he meant.

"**Quite**. **Naturally, the Naivety before you was the youngest of the three**. **I'd assume about three or four**. **Of course**, **that can only happen due to a severe level of emotional trauma**."

"Are you referring to his experiences as a child?" Itachi inquired.

"**That and the actions of another group of shinobi**."

Itachi raised his eyebrows, "The Nentuo?"

"**So you**'**re aware of their activities**."

"I know they're here and their after you and the other eight."

"**But are you aware of their goal**?"

"Enlighten me."

The Kyubi smiled.

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Yugao returned to the village around the dusk with an urgent message for the Hokage. A team of ANBU had found a semi conscious Sasuke in the woods. He had been stabbed in the elbows and knees. What worried the ANBU, and the medic nin for this matter, was his irresponsiveness.

Sarutobi and Yugao were in an observation room watching the medic nin perform tests on Sasuke. Several wires and tubes connected him to a different machines which made a variety of noises as the medics worked. One of them, was waving his hands in front of Sasuke's eyes.

Regardless of this man's actions, Sasuke continued to stare off into space and drool.

"You don't think Itachi used the mangekyou sharingan do you?" Yugao asked. Sarutobi shook his head, "I really don't know. But I'm beginning to contemplate something."

"What's that sir?"

"Those prisoner. There were two others with him. All three were dressed similar to shinobi from the Nentuo."

"The Nentuo? I thought that was an old wives tales."

"Maybe, maybe not."

"You're not telling me you actually believe it do you?"

"Well most of the signs seem to agree with the idea."

"What signs?"

"Sasuke over there. He's been like that since they've found him right?"

"Yeah."

"My guess is his mind was transferred into something else. Since nothing else was put in control he's become a puppet without strings."

"It's probably just a side effect of the mangekyou."

"Maybe."

"Well I have to go now."

"Hayate?"

Yugao's face turned a bright red ",Yeah."

"I understand. Have a good evening you two."

"Thank you."

The purple haired ANBU left.

"Lord Hokage?" a medic nin asked as he stepped into the observation room. Saurtobi answered, "Yes?"

"That charred body we found in the training grounds," he started, "The test results are in and we've identified the body. It was Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru?" Sarutobi asked. He had last seen Orochimaru many years ago during his defection from the village, "Did someone burn him?"

"It was self-inflicted," the medic added. The medic was met with a shocked face.

"We found a jacket of explosive tags on his body," he answered, "He committed suicide."

Sarutobi looked on in shock at the medic. This couldn't be true, could it? Why would Orochimaru, driven to madness in his quest to master all jutsus, take his own life?

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_Sakura stood behind Sasuke._

_"Kakashi asked us to meet him," she told the dark haired boy. He turned to look at her. She was met with the cold gaze of snake-like eyes. He licked the upper half of his lips._

_"Sasuke, are you alright?" she asked. Sasuke opened his mouth and snake slithered its way out. Sakura screamed and tried to run. But the faster she ran, the closer Sasuke got. _

_She felt the snake wrap itself around her body, tightening until Sakura couldn't breathe. Sakura began to feel dizzy. The snake was cutting off the circulation throughout her body. She fell backwards and found herself looking straight up at Sasuke._

_"Sasuke, what are you doing?" she whimpered. Sasuke smiled. Not a warm, friendly smile. This smile was the kind of smile a predator would give its prey. Sasuke kneeled down and pulled a sword out from his mouth. A cold chill ran down her spine and spread through out her body. He smiled and said, "Oh my, I haven't seen fear like yours in ages."_

_Sakura let out a gasp as Sasuke raised the sword over her head. She began to make all kinds of pleas with him. At first she promised to do whatever he wanted. Then she began to beg he let her go. Sasuke seemed to enjoy her cries. He swung it down._

Sakura woke up in a cold sweat. A door slid.

"Sakura?" came Ino's voice.

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Anra sat on the ledge of the ship. The Nibankage thought it best to anchor the boat out of sight of the shore. This gave them a covert base to operate from. She was staring off into space, trying to keep herself calm.

The truth was she was anxious. Rekiru, because of his short height, had been kicked hard in the head. It wasn't a question of whether or not he would live. The medics knew he would. It was a question of the brain damage.

As for her, the kunai had missed her spine and vital organs by centimeters. She just needed some time to recover before she returned to active duty. But it wasn't Rekiru or herself she was worried about.

She was worried for Higama. A rescue team consisting of 3 people had been sent to retrieve Higama before the seal in his head broke. This seal was put on every shinobi of the Nentuo. It activated only when a person was captured or killed. The seal had only one effect: destroy all memories and knowledge about the Nentuo's techniques, their training programs and so on.

The problem was, they hadn't returned yet. They weren't supposed to return for another 24 hours anyway, but it was the idea of not knowing what was happening to Higama or the rescue team that made her anxious.

"Anra?"

Anra jumped. She turned around to see the Sanbankage. The Sanbankage was the person under the Omoikage, second only to the Nibankage. Unlike the Nibankage, the Sanbankage was much younger (in fact he was 35 where the Nibankage was in his late 60's) and chose to wear the standard shinobi wear instead of the formal robes and hat of upper ranking members. His brown hair had been tied into a ponytail at the back of his head. A thick black scar on the right side of his face ran from his forehead to his cheek, but it did little to distract from his eyes. His gray eyes, curiously enough, resembled the symbol of the Nentuo. He was Ryo, Sanbankage and 3rd strongest shinobi in the Nentuo.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you there," he said apologetically.

"You didn't. I was just thinking," she told him, "Congratulations on your promotion again, sir."

"I thought I asked you to stop calling me sir. We've known each other forever," he said.

"Yes, sir."

"Would you mind if I joined you?"

"Not really."

Ryo leaned on the ledge, next to where Anra sat.

"I'm sorry about Higama. He was a good man, although his jokes…eh."

"Sorry?" Anra had an idea where the conversation was going.

"He won't be coming back. We received communications from the rescue team. They were discovered and had to…you know."

Anra swallowed.

"I tried to appeal to the Nibankage, but we're setting sail tonight. Anyone not on the ship when we leave is to be marked KIA."

She did her best to hold back her oncoming tears. She knew this would happen. Higama knew this would happen. She felt a wave of guilt swallow her. If she hadn't gotten herself caught in the paralysis technique, if she hadn't underestimated the ANBU and the Hokage…She must have looked pathetic right now: ready to cry in front of a superior officer.

"There's something I need to tell you Anra," he said. She looked up at him. He had a serious look on his face.

"What is it?" She said, trying to blink back tears.

"I'll tell you in my private quarters."

Ryo led Anra below the deck into his quarters. It was lavishly decorated with green curtains, a green couch covered with lime-colored pillows, a wooden desk stacked with paperwork, a bed with dark green sheets and a green door that could only go to the bathroom. Ryo locked the door behind him and closed the curtains.

"It's kind of the wrong time to say this but it's more important than losing a team mate."

"He was your friend too, Ryo," Anra shot him a tense look.

"Do you think I don't care that Higama's been left for dead?" he growled.

Anra and Ryo shared a moment of silence.

"Look, I'm not confessing love for you or anything of the sort," he declared, "You're a dear friend, and that is all you will be to me."

She relaxed a little, but there was still a tension in the air.

"I'm sharing this information with you only: this mission is going on without Lord Omoikage's knowledge. Or so the Nibankage thinks."

"What are you talking about?" she snorted.

"The Nibankage has been working as a spy for the Karadakage **(Shadow of Health, Leader of the Bodiinai no Sato/Village Hidden in the Body, regarded as the Juggernaut)** and the Konkage **(Shadow of the Spirit, Leader of the Kontaninai no Sato/Village Hidden in the Soul, regarded by many as The Tactician)** for months," Ryo explained.

"What?" Anra's eyes widened.

"He's supposed to be retrieving all 9 jinchuriki for the Karadakage and the Konkage so they can destroy the Nentuo. But he's planning on using them against all three villages."

"But why would he do that?"

"We don't know yet."

Anra took a moment to digest everything Ryo had said. Everything he said made little to no sense at all. But then again, they had been friends for the longest of times. Why would he lie to her?

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked.

"I'm telling you this because I need your help and because I don't want you or Rekiru to get hurt," he said bluntly.

"What?" She said in surprise.

"Tonight. The Nibankage is planning on moving the jinchuriki and anyone loyal to him on another boat. Afterwards, he going to blow this one up and kill everyone loyal to Lord Omoikage."

"But then we need to warn everyone."

"We can't. Apart from you, Rekiru and Higama, I have no idea who's loyal to who."

"So what do we do?"

"I'm going to release the jinchuriki. Get them to shore as quickly as possible. Once we find a good hiding place, we'll restore their memories and return them to their villages. If we're lucky, the villages we've been working on have grown aware of the situation."

"Aware?"

"I've been leaving clues," he explained, "Lord Omoikage tasked me with the mission of sabotaging the Nibankage's plans."

"What about Rekiru?"

"He's already been moved ashore. The one in the medical cabin is a genjutsu," he smiled cunningly.

"So what's the plan?"


	18. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto anime or manga, but the Nentuoinai no Sato and any characters from said village are my ideas. But you know that already don't you. I've been saying it for 17 chapters.

**Author's Notes: **It's a triple update bonanza! The following stories:

The Nentuoinai no Sato

Ace Combat: Frozen Winds and Burnt Skies

Oyabun

were all updated at the same time. If you haven't had the chance to read the other two fics, now is the time.

Now on to the main author's notes.

It seems like forever since I last updated and I must apologize. I've just been very lazy lately. Excuses aside, my goal for this arc is to flesh out the other jinchuriki whom I have ignored for a good part of the story. The lyrics were taken from Naruto Ending 14, Pinocchio…Yes, I know the lyrics don't make sense. Watch the ending yourself. This is pretty much what it says. Finally, I'm not going to kill off anymore of the characters because for some reason I bring them back…it's completely weird…I kinda wonder why.

**The Village Hidden by the Mind**

**(Nentuoinai No Sato)**

Star fragments dance dirty on the checkerboard night  
'Ah I don't want to go home yet' is something I just can't say  
That's just how I think Terry  
Ah spit in the face of the one you should love!  
Mr. Cricket!  
I'm starting to wonder about that shining trombone as it slowly slips off key  
on top of a stage that stinks like sweat  
More importantly, I wonder if this confused feeling in my flat chest  
Is because of the cola drank?

**Chapter 17 **

Salty sea air filled his aching lungs. The cool air caused the muscles in his body to relax. A chilly breeze danced through his blonde hair, brushing it against his eyes. Almost automatically he opened them; revealing their sky blue color. If someone were to look into them, they could say it seemed all hope had left them.

It was a starry night, cloudless. A soothing sound of waves seemed to serenade him. _What happened?_ Naruto asked himself, _I was talking to Nezumi…and then…nothing. _He groaned at the thought of having huge blanks in his memory. Why did he have so many blanks? What was happening to him?

"Did you hear something?" someone said. Naruto realized he was in a rowboat, with two people. The one who spoke had a gruff tone of voice. Naruto tried to talk, but couldn't find the strength.

"No," came the reply. This voice was much softer and less hostile. It was a purple haired woman, "He's the last one right?"

"Yeah."

Naruto could not have been more confused. Maybe because he had no idea what half of it meant. There was a sudden pain in his head. Naruto grabbed his head in his hands and scowled.

"I guess he's awake, Ryo," the woman stated. Ryo seemed surprised, "Are you alright?"

Naruto sat up. Ryo held both oars and was rowing the boat. The woman sat at the back, eyeing a massive ship in the distance. Naruto nodded to Ryo's question.

"Glad to see you're alright," he said, "Naruto."

"Thanks. But, who are you?"

"Name's Ryo," Ryo declared, "and she is Anra."

He pointed to Anra who gave a curt smile.

"Where are we?"

"On a boat heading for shore," Anra answered.

"But why?"

"I've…We've made some mistakes," Anra told the boy. Her eyes went glassy. Naruto could only look at her apologetically. Ryo continued rowing for some time until they were finally able to reach shore. Ryo then dragged the boat onto the sandy beach while Anra led Naruto into a cave like area. Within were Nezumi, Kichigai, Itachi, Yugito, Chikin, Mizu, and two other boys he had never seen. One was robust, with a mat of green hair on his head while the other had red hair and clear signs of insomnia. All eight of them were asleep around a small fire.

"You should get some sleep," Anra told Naruto as she handed him a blanket. She left the cave, leaving Naruto alone. He wasn't tired so he decided to sit down and watch the fire. Its heat warmed his body, which helped with the night being so cold.

He sat there staring at the fire for what seemed like hours. He tried to sleep but the harder he tried the more awake he became. Naruto took occasional glances at the red-haired insomniac. He had never seen the boy before, but he could have sworn he knew him from somewhere. Naruto really wished he knew. Knew why he couldn't remember anything. Knew why he seemed to know the insomniac. Knew why nothing made sense.

"Are you alright?" Anra asked. Naruto looked up at her. She was leaning against the cave wall, spinning a kunai with one finger. Behind her, he could see the first signs of the sun rising in the horizon.

"Yeah," he answered. Anra stared back at him.

"Is there something on my face?" he asked, feeling unnerved by her stair.

"No, I was just thinking," she answered.

"About what?"

"…"

Anra stared at him silently before she marched herself out of the cave. Naruto watched in bewilderment as she left, wondering if he did something to offend her.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ryo came into the cave a little while later and woke everyone up. He told them all to get ready to leave and to leave anything they didn't need. Mizu (Snake, 8) suggested they leave Kichigai (Dog, 5). He was later introduced to a fist at 90 mph or 144.8 km/h. Nezumi (Bat, 7), Yugito (Cat, 2) and Itachi (Weasel, 6) laughed uncontrollably. Chikin (Cockatrice, 4) muttered something about Mizu and Kichigai being annoying. Yugito looked at the two of them with a knowing smile.

Ryo left as quickly as he came and busied himself with hiding any evidence of their presence. As he was about to burn the boat he noticed Anra was attending to a still unconscious Rekiru. He had caught a fever and was burning up. They decided to have him sleep outside so he could cool down but it didn't seem to be working. He was sweating uncontrollably and his whole face had gone red.

"How is he?" Ryo asked.

"Not any better," she said as she gently laid a wet cloth on Rekiru's head, "His fever just seems to be getting worse."

Ryo opened his mouth to respond when a loud metal pang erupted behind him. Almost on cue, a flustered Nezumi ran out of the cave yelling, "You wouldn't hit a blind kid would you?"

"Take back what you said you little creep!" Kichigai shouted after him, holding every cooking/eating utensil Ryo had packed. Forks, spoons, bowls, cups, plates, pots, pans, and all things in between flew through the air. Ryo watched in disbelief at the sight before him. Unable to see the projectiles, Nezumi was hit by every single thing Kichigai threw at him. Nezumi kept running until he tripped over a root and landed on top of Anra who proceeded to fall on the unconscious Rekiru. Kichigai stopped in her tracks at the sight before her, which looked…wrong. Anra's face landed on Rekiru's pelvic area while Nezumi's hands wound up in Rekiru's open mouth and Anra's breast. Nezumi pulled his hands back and shouted, "Aw man! What did I fall in?"

Ryo looked at Anra's face, which had gone completely red. Kichigai had burst into a fit of laughter. Ryo opened his mouth to say something but decided against it once Anra smashed Kichigai's head against a rock. He helped Nezumi on his feet and guided the blind/beaten/disgusted boy back to the cave. As he walked in, he heard:

"I'm Naruto. And you are?"

"My name is…Gaara…"

"Hi Gaara. So…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

Naruto diverted the conversation to the green haired boy, "And you are?"

"…Sobou…Sobou Kawa," he said. He twiddled his thumbs and his eyes darted to the floor.

"Hi guys," Ryo said as he led Nezumi to a rock. Nezumi sat on the rock and began clicking his tongue. Ryo noticed Itachi staring at Nezumi until she realized Ryo was looking at her. She immediately looked away. Yugito patted her on the back and whispered something in her ear.

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Around mid day, the group of twelve was on the move. Ryo and Anra were at the front, taking turns carrying the still unconscious Rekiru. Yugito and Chikin were conversing with Itachi, who shot jealous stares at Kichigai. Since Nezumi could not see the path, the group resolved to have Kichigai carry him. Besides, she was the one throwing cooking utensils at the kid. Mizu, Gaara, and Sobou brought up the rear. Mizu made occasional remarks about Kichigai, which Sobou laughed at. Naruto had no idea where they were going and Ryo made a point to not ask. But that didn't stop Naruto, who prodded Ryo with the same question.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"If I said no the first twenty times, why would I say yes?"

"Maybe I wouldn't ask so much if I knew where we were going," Naruto stated, as they entered a clearing.

"I told you not to ask. We get there when we get there."

"So, are we there yet?"

SMACK! Kichigai kicked Naruto in the gut, sending him into the ground.

"AHH! What was that for?" Naruto shouted at Kichigai.

"You were annoying me," Kichigai said bluntly.

"At least I'm not a-"

"What? Not a what?" Kichigai growled. Kichigai dropped Nezumi with a loud, "Ow!"

"-a mesuinu!"

Nezumi and Mizu stopped and stared (Okay, Nezumi looked in Naruto's general direction) in disbelief at Naruto. Kichigai's face went red with rage. Naruto gulped as he saw the veins on her head pop.

"It was nice knowing you Naruto," Nezumi said before he backed away. Kichigai cracked her knuckles and asked, "What did you say?"

"Er…" he took a step back. He could feel the sweat rolling down his face, "You're a mesuinu?"

It was one thing to piss Kichigai off when then where several iron bars and some distance between you and her. It was pure insanity to piss her off when the only thing between you and her was air. Kichigai took a swing at Naruto. Instinctively, Naruto did a back flip and avoided Kichigai's fist. Her fist struck the ground and created a small crater.

"Whoa," she stammered, "How did you do that?"

Naruto was taken aback by his sudden feat. What was he before he lost his memories? Naruto thought on the subject but the harder he tried to remember the more his head began to hurt. As if something was trying to prevent him from remembering. He grabbed his head in pain.

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They continued walking, Kichigai pestering Naruto about how he did the back flip. Mizu wound up carrying Nezumi since Kichigai had completely forgotten about him. As they walked, they came upon two people dressed in black cloaks.

One was a man with short spiky red hair. The other was woman with long flowing dark hair. Naruto got the strangest feeling looking at them. As if they weren't human. The couple held large swords they pointed threateningly at Ryo.

"Can I help you?"

The man opened his mouth and a senbon needle shot out. Ryo caught it between his fingers and threw it back at the man. The needle hit the man's neck. Instead of falling backwards, the man pulled it out and broke it. Ryo made a hand sign, and expected the couple to turn on each other. Instead, they attacked Anra.

"What!?" Ryo exclaimed. Anra dropped Rekiru and threw kunai at the couple. Each kunai hit their mark, but the couple showed no signs of slowing down. They came down on Anra and a cloud of smoke kicked up where they landed.

When the smoke cleared, Anra was holding the heads of both the man and the woman. She seemed unfazed by the beheading. She dropped the heads, and they fell to the ground with a hollow echo. To Naruto's shock the heads were made completely out of wood.

"Puppets," Anra explained, "meant to either slow us down or guard this path."

"Let's not stagger then," Ryo answered, "Whoever was controlling them knew we were coming. They'll be all over us if we don't move."

The group started moving again. Late in the day, they came across a stream where the group stopped to take a short break. Rekiru was laid down against the stream while Ryo went up down the stream making various hand signs and muttering to himself. Once he finished he sat down with the rest of the group. Sobou was snoozing away; Gaara watched Sobou closely, seemingly envious of his ability to sleep. Nezumi and Itachi were talking beneath the shadow of a nearby tree. Yugito was watching them from afar. Kichigai and Mizu were bickering about who could catch the most fish, and eventually dove into the stream to prove their individual gloats. Chikin had climbed a tree and was watching the scene below him.

Naruto decided to lie on a small rock and take the time to rest. A gentle breeze blew, blowing his hair into his eyes. He looked up at the darkening sky. The setting sun cast a gold hue on the clouds. In a way, it looked kind of orange. He liked that color. He had no idea why, which surprised him since he was wearing a red and black jumpsuit. Personally, they weren't his favorite colors. Wait a minute. He had remembered something! Was he coming closer to regaining his memory? He tried to see what else he could remember, but it only gave him a headache. He clutched his head again and felt himself beginning to fall asleep until Ryo shouted, "We've been spotted!"

A gust of wind kicked up. The wind was so strong, it created a small dust storm.

"Everybody get down!" Ryo cried. On command Naruto dropped to the ground and shielded himself. The dust so thick it blocked out what part of the sun hadn't set yet. The wind grew stronger and stronger; Naruto could feel the wind beginning to pick him up. Suddenly, the wind died. As the dust cleared, Naruto became aware of eight others around them. He looked up to see eight people in black cloaks patterned with red flames surrounding their group. They wore rice hats; strips of paper and bells came down around the rim of the hat to hide their faces. Naruto looked all around and realized their group had been surrounded.

"Sieze them."

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And we end with another cliffhanger. The rest of the story will be told entirely from Hinata's perspective. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!


End file.
